To Die For
by Sweet Possum
Summary: InuYasha and Kagome's relationship grows as the face dangerous and even heart breaking encounters.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! I'm so sorry it took so long for me to start my next story! I've had a huge writers block and decided to take a break for a couple of months, if that's how long it was. I didn't count. :) anyways, I had three InuYasha story choices on my poll for me to write next, and I was having a hard time how to start out the story, because I wasn't sure which one was going to win yet. Once I saw which one I was sure was going to win, I decided to stick with that specific one, and start to imagine and think about it while listening to music. That's what helps me brain storm.**

**So…'To Die For' was the winner! I'm actually really excited to write this since I know now what's going to happen.**

**For this first chapter, I imagined it while listening to the song Paikea's whale from the Whale Rider soundtrack. I'm not sure if you have heard of it, but it's a good movie, and it has great music in it.**

**So here's chapter 1! Enjoy!**

Chapter 1

The day sky was cloudy; no sun was seen. A misty fog spread the whole area, and it almost seemed impossible for anyone to find away through.

Black hair from Kagome Higurashi blew in the wind and big beautiful brown eyes opened wide, curiously looking out to the mysterious place she was in. The girl felt warm a warm breeze as she saw nothing but mist all around her.

_Where am I? _With nothing else to do, she took a small step forward and suddenly felt the gravity disappearing as she mysteriously started to float a bit, but not enough to fly away.

Kagome stared out into space, a little confused that she was off the ground, but put her left foot down to jump up and float forward. It was as if she were leaping on the moon.

The wind blew a bit more, and Kagome landed on her feet to look before her. _Am I alone?_ She watched as the wind blew away some of the fog in front of her, revealing a familiar figure far ahead. The clothing was red of color, and long silver white hair blew back. The person had, who had pointy dog ears on his head, had his back toward Kagome.

The girl's eyes went wide again and gasped when she realized she wasn't alone and who it was that was with her. _InuYasha…_

Kagome leaped another step forward, and once the wind blew some more fog away, the boy slowly turned his head back, showing sad, lifeless amber colored eyes staring back at her.

The girl took another leap, floating forward and landing on her feet again. _I'm not alone. InuYasha's here with me._

InuYasha's whole body was turned around by now, and not saying a word he stood still watching the girl coming toward him.

Kagome felt like some force was pushing her back, and it was a little difficult to move. But she still went for it, having the urge to make it toward the half-demon who still stood there lifelessly.

She leaped forward once more as fog blew in front of her, but soon moved away, and she could see InuYasha again still standing while watching her. Kagome had no doubt on holding back as she continued to leap forward in the field she was in.

Soon enough the girl was only ten feet away from the half-demon, and she finally reached out her hand as she continued moving toward the boy, who was still staring straight at her while his hair blew behind him in the wind.

When Kagome was finally five feet away from him, her arm still stretched out in front of her, she took one hard blink in both of her eyes, and once she opened them, InuYasha started to slowly fade away.

Her heart sunk once she was that the half-demon had disappeared, and suddenly felt sad and lonely. _InuYasha…_She felt like crying when she was pushed forward, and her whole body fell down a cliff. Once the girl slowly turned over, her face up, she felt a soft splash as she landed in water.

Kagome was now below the surface and she looked up wide-eyed to see the sun shine brightly above the water. It looked so beautiful, but the girl felt really sad.

The 15 year old girl moaned a bit as she fought the urge to open her eyes to the bright sunlight. "Inu…Yasha?"

Kaogme finally opened her eyes and looked around her. She noticed she was in her own bedroom, laying on her soft, warm bed. The girl felt a little sad but relieved at the same time. She woke up to now strong, brave half dog demon InuYasha watching over her, but she remembered that she had come home a few days ago to catch up on her school work since she had missed so much of it while she was in the feudal era. Now it was time to return to InuYasha and all her friends.

"Kagome!" a familiar motherly voice called from below.

"Huh?" Kagome noticed it was 11:00 am on her alarm clock and started freaking out. "What! It was suppose to go off 3 hours ago!"

The girl quickly got dressed into her normal school uniform and started to pack her bag. She knew that InuYasha would go off on her for being so late.

Once Kagome finished packing her big yellow backpack, she ran down the stairs and grew shocked to see InuYasha himself, standing there with his arms crossed into his sleeves while giving a small glare. Her mom, grandpa, and little brother Sota were there as well, although they didn't seem angry like the half-demon seemed to be.

"InuYasha?" she asked, waiting for him to say something.

He said nothing and kept a straight glare on his face, obviously waiting for the girl to give him an explanation.

Kagome really didn't feel like fighting this morning, so she decided to solve it calmly. "I'm sorry I was late, InuYasha. My alarm clock didn't go off."

Still, he said nothing and kept the same position he was holding.

"InuYasha?"

"It's alright, Kagome," her mother had finally said something. "I just got done explaining everything to him that you were too tired to even look at your alarm clock last night. I'm sure that's what happened."

"Oh." If that was true, then why was he still upset? Kagome figured that maybe it was just because he was having a bad day. Or maybe it was just acting like his usual self; annoyed and grumpy. "I'm sorry, InuYasha."

"Whatever," he finally replied. "Let's hurry up and go. We still have lots of jewel shards ahead of us."

"Right." And Kagome followed the half-demon out the door after saying goodbye to her parents. The two entered the shrine next to the house, and quickly jumped down the well, floating through time in space.

**Sorry if it was so short. Anyways, please let me know what you think and tell me if I made any mistakes. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the long update everyone. I finally made a small promise that I wouldn't get writers block for each chapter I'm gonna write. I managed to write a lot down on paper, I just didn't have time to post it yet. But here's chapter 2! Enjoy! Chapter 2

InuYasha, with no struggle at all, leaped out of the well and brought down his hand to help pull Kagome out also, since she had a huge bag full of stuff and it made it difficult for her to climb out.

Once the girl was completely pulled out and finally standing by herself, she gave the half-demon a smile, who awkwardly turned his head with a flush of red on his face.

Kagome sighed as she looked around herself; a beautiful, peaceful forest full of big trees and pure green grass. Butterflies weren't hard to find as they passed by, and birds were easy to spot with their loud, yet graceful chirps. The place was just pure beautiful, and Kagome could never get the nice vision out of her eyes.

"Kagome!"

The 15 year old girl faced before her to see a familiar little fox child with orange-red hair that was pulled in a small pony tail by a blue bow, and blue-green eyes that sparkled every time he smiled, running up to her. Kagome smiled and put her arms out ready for the child to jump into her arms and give a big hug. "Shippo!" she exclaimed.

The fox child jumped into the girls arms and gave her one of the biggest hugs he had ever given her as he laughed and cried tears like there was no tomorrow. "You've been goon for so long; I missed you so much!"

"Oh Shippo, I missed you too." The girl continuously rocked the boy side to side when she noticed two other familiar figures walking her way.

"Kagome, welcome back," said Sango. She had dark brown hair that was pulled back into a low pony tail by a white ribbon and brown eyes.

Beside her stood Miroku; a monk with black hair pulled in a short low pony tail at the nip of his neck, and dark blue eyes. "It's good to see you again, Kagome," he said sweetly.

"It's good to be back," said Kagome with Shippo still in her arms, who seemed to notice that InuYasha was very annoyed just by the way he crossed his arms and looked the other way. "I had to get a lot of studying done and tests to make up. But I managed to accomplish that."

"Yeah," InYasha finally spoke in an annoyed tone, "we can just skip the welcome backs and get started on our quest. I've had to wait seven days, and I ain't waiting any longer."

Just before anyone could reply to his comment, the clouds did it with a flash of lighting, a sound of thunder, and finally the start of rain falling on their heads.

InuYasha cursed under his breath as the others looked up at the sky curiously. "I guess we weren't aware of this," Miroku said calmly as Sango nodded in agreement and her tiny two-tailed demon cat Kirara, who was in the demon slayer's arms, shook her wet fur harshly.

"I'm sorry," Kagome started sadly, "I should have brought some umbrellas."

"It's ok, Kagome," Sango nicely said, "you didn't know."

"Yeah," Miroku smiled sweetly at the girl, "we have plenty of time for collecting shards."

"Don't come to conclusions," InuYasha said grumpily with his back toward the others, "we're going jewel shard hunting whether we get wet or not."

Kagome gave the half-demon a surprised look, along with the others. "What?"

InuYasha was finally facing everyone with his arms crossed. "I'm not gonna let a little rain stop us."

Sango gave an ashamed look along with Miroku as Kirara shook her fur again while mewing miserably.

"InuYasha!" Kagome exclaimed. "We're not traveling in this weather! We shouldn't!"

"Kagome's right," Miroku said before the half-demon could protest again, "it may be a little hard and miserable to walk in the rain. It's best we stay in Kaede's hut until the rain calms down."

"Mm-hm," Sango nodded in agreement as Kagome gave InuYasha a smile, sure that he would give in.

He only sighed and looked away, but showing that he had given up and ding what the rest of the group had suggested.

"So it's settled," the monk spoke, "we stay here until it's no longer raining."

Inside her hut, hold Kaede checked the pot of stew that she was currently cooking over the fire.

Miroku sat by Sango, who continued to dray her two-tailed pet off with a dry cloth. Kagome leaned toward the pot of stew and smiled brightly. It smelled so perfect, she would say, and she couldn't wait to take a bite when it was finished.

InuYasha sat in the corner, not even making communication with anyone. This wasn't what he wanted in the first place, but it was too late to change plans now. His pointy dog-like ears twitched at the roaring sound of thunder.

"Where's Shippo?" Kagome finally broke the silence.

"I don't know, playing in the rain, I guess," InuYasha replied.

"He shouldn't; the weather is intense and he could catch a cold."

"Keh." The half-demon turned the other way with a grumpy glare.

Kagome looked at him curiously. _What's with him today?_

"Another kind," the fox demon said to himself as he reached to pick a couple flowers to add to his collection that were in his other hand. He had two pink flowers, three yellow ones, and now he found blue ones.

The child smiled to himself and smelled the flowers after he added them with the rest. "Ahh," he sighed as if he smelled the greatest thing in the world. He completely ignored the rain and suddenly had his eyes on a big, flat, red flower that was as big as he was. "Ooo…" He s tarted to walk toward it, but before he could get only tiny inches from it, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Shippo!"

It was silent except for the pouring rain as the boy turned to see Kagome outside the hut, 15 feet away from him.

"Come on, it's raining badly! Besides, don't you wanna eat?"

Shippo finally smiled at the talk of food, and quickly ran up and entered the hut with the teenager.

Kagome helped Shippo dry off ass Kaede gave each person a wooden bowl of stew.

InuYasha was the one to make the first bite, and once he stuck the food in his mouth, his tongue started to burn, and he let out a painful scream.

The rest of the group looked at him, although it was a look with no curiosity, as if they knew what the scream was about.

The half-demon now had his tongue sticking out, and gave a freaked out look.

"It just got done cooking, InuYasha," said Kagome as Sango started to cool hers off with her own blow, as well as Miroku.

Once Shippo was satisfied with how dry he was, he held up the flowers that he had picked up to Kagome and smiled. "These are for you, Kagome."

She smiled and took them. "Oh Shippo, thank you! I love them." The girl took a sniff from the flowers when she heard InuYasha make an annoyed grump. She turned to him curiously. "What's your problem?"

He just looked the other way without speaking.

"Mmm, the stew is delicious," said Sango as she took some bites and turned to the old priestess. "Thank you, Kaede."

"Ye welcome," she replied and took a look out the window. It was still pouring outside, and the clouds were still very dark. "Looks like ye won't be out for a while." The sound of thunder came again.

"Oh yeah, just what I needed," InuYasha let out in a sarcastic tone.

Kaede gave the half-demon a curious look. "InuYasha, today is the night of the new moon, is it not?"

He said nothing but gave a sad stare at the floor as Sango and Miroku both nodded. Each month at night when the moon was dark, InuYasha would loose his demon powers and turn completely human. It was a natural thing for a half-demon.

Kagome felt relieved, now understanding the half-demon's grumpy behavior. _So that's why he's been acting like this._ "Say, InuYasha? Maybe we should just stay hear all night. After all, it is raining pretty badly, and by tomorrow morning you'll get your powers back again."

InuYasha had to admit it wasn't a bad idea, but right now it was still morning, and he didn't want to wait any longer. "You think that's topped me before?"

The teenage girl sighed while rolling her eyes. She knew how brave yet foolish InuYasha could be sometimes.

"I think it's a great idea," said Sango. "The weather's bad anyways, and you shouldn't have to go out tonight, especially since you'll be all human."

"I was hoping," the half-demon replied, "to find a place to sleep during our travels."

"Well it's raining pretty bad," said Shippo as he looked out the window.

"Taking it from a guy who was just out playing in the rain."

"But what if a demon is hiding out there and you wouldn't be able to smell it because of the rain?"

"Shippo's right," said Kagome," it's safe if we just stay put until tomorrow."

"So what am I gonna do until then?" the half-demon asked.

"Well, we could play a game to pass the time."

Miroku slurped his stew and curiously looked up at the girl. "What kind of game?"

"Something we wouldn't have to go outside for….Oh, I know! Truth or dare!"

"Truth or what?" Sango asked.

"Truth of Dare."

"How do you play, Kagome," Shippo asked, already excited.

"Um…well you ask someone 'truth or dare' and if they say truth, you ask them a question. And they have to be honest about it."

"And what about the dare?" InuYasha asked, not so sure he wanted to play this game.

"That's easy. If somebody says 'dare' you have to dare them to do something that would be challenging. And there's no turning back."

"Sounds good to me," said the monk as he sat is bowl down, and Kaede gave a smile to show that she didn't mind at all watching.

"Yeah, let's play!" Shippo exclaimed as he jumped up and down.

"Ok," Kagome started, "Sango, truth or dare?"

"Truth, I guess," she softly answered.

"Ok," Kagome smiled, "is there a man you have fallen in love with?"

Sango grew nervous and felt her stomach tingle. She felt that was too personal to ask, but Kagome said there was no turning back. She sighed while blushing. "Maybe, but I'm not so sure though."

Kagome gasped and smiled at Miroku, for sure knowing it was the monk, although he didn't seem to notice or react much. "Your turn, Sango."

"Ok, Miroku truth or dare?"

The monk gave a smirk. "Dare."

"Ok, I dare you not to grope me through this whole entire game."

As Kaede gave a chuckle, Miroku twitched a little bit, wishing that he could change to truth. There was no hurt in trying. "I…I mean truth!"

"There's no turning back, Miroku."

"Yeah, don't be such a soar looser!" Kagome exclaimed as InuYasha and Shippo rolled their eyes to how perverted the monk was.

Miroku sighed. "I'll try. But sometimes I can't help myself. You're bottom is calling my hand."

"If you do, you'll loose the game," Sango said lifelessly.

He sighed once again.

"Do me next! Do me next!" Shippo cried while jumping up and down again.

Miroku smiled. "Ok Shippo, truth or dare."

Shippo stopped bouncing and put his finger up to his chin to think. "Hmm…truth or dare…truth or dare…"

"Come on, we ain't got all day," InuYasha said.

The fox demon glared and gave a smirk, thinking this was the perfect opportunity to get him back for being so mean to him. "Dare."

Miroku nodded after looking at him and then at InuYasha, knowing what Shippo wanted and not blaming him at all. "I dare you to hit InuYasha on the head."

Shippo kept his smirk on. _He read my mind._ The fox demon walked up and jumped to give a punch on the half-demon's head.

"Hey!" InuYasha exclaimed and yanked the kid by the tail. "What was that for?"

"Miroku dared me to!"

He dropped him and crossed his arms. "I don't think that's fair treatment."

"Well, here comes another because it's my turn to ask you. Truth or dare?"

InuYasha was silent for a few seconds, unsure of what to choose. There was no way he would say truth because it could be too personal. And he didn't want to do some stupid dare, although he was sure he could handle it. "Dare."

Shippo started to snicker. "InuYasha, I dare you to---"

Interrupting the game Kagome suddenly gave a fearful scream, which made everyone, even the old priestess jump.

"What, what is it?" InuYasha asked worriedly.

"A worm!"

Everyone looked down to see a slimy worm wiggling on the floor of the hut. "It must have come in with Shippo's flowers," Sango suggested as Kaede nodded.

"Keh, it's just a worm," InuYasha said as he stood up. "All ya gotta do is kill it." He put his strong fist down on the worm and lifted it up to reveal tiny guts splattered on the floor.

"Ick!" Kagome exclaimed disgustedly as she jumped back.

Everyone decided to call it quits on t he Truth or Date game, although Shippo was a little disappointed that he wasn't finished with messing with InuYasha, but he knew that could wait and continue another day. For now, everybody decided to rest and make plans for the next morning.

When everybody was sleeping, InuYasha now full human, sat against the wall of the hut and started to think for a while. _We don't have very many shards now, and it's gonna take a long while to collect them all._

"InuYasha?"

He turned to see sleepy Kagome sitting up on top of her sleeping back and looking right at him.

"What are you doing up, InuYasha?"

He just looked the other way as the girl stood and walked and sat next to her friend. "Don't you wanna sleep?"

"I don't need sleep," he answered with no eye contact.

"I know you don't have your demon powers tonight, but it doesn't mean you should avoid rest."

"Keh."

Kagome wrapped her arms around her knees and looked down at the floor, trying to find the right words to say to her friend. "InuYasha, you're strong and brave…"

"Huh?" InuYasha was now facing the girl. "What are you getting at?"

She still had her eyes on the ground but continued. "I'm just saying that I know you'll come to your senses if anything happened while you were sleeping."

"My senses are to be aware of anything that comes. You'll never know."

Kagome finally looked into his eyes and gave a small smile. "But Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and I got your back. There's nothing for you to worry about."

"There is too for me to worry about! If something happened to you, I'm not sure I'll be able to save you like this!"

The girl's smile grew. "But nothing will happen to me because you're always there for me."

InuYasha tried to hold in his blush, but no matter how he tried, the flush of read appeared on his face, so he looked the other way. _Kagome…you really trust me…even as a mortal?_

Kagome finally stood. "So, lets get some sleep, alright."

He said nothing as he watched the girl, who had a good feeling he would give in, go back to her sleeping bag.

Kagome gasped for air as she slept that night. _I can't…breathe…"_

The girl felt she was floating as she looked up to see the shiny sun above the water surface. It was quiet, and Kagome tried to swim up but couldn't.

Before she knew it, the sun started to disappear, and the picture began to grow completely dark.

Kagome was really scared now, and couldn't help but wonder where her one and only savior was. _Wha…InuYasha…where are you…help me….._

Big brown eyes opened while and a fearful gasp escaped the teenager's lips as she sat up. _I can' breathe again._ Kagome looked around herself to see everyone still asleep Except for InuYasha, who wasn't there.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kagome looked out the window to see that it was morning, so she got up to go find out where her half-demon friend was.

Once she pulled up the flap of the hut and walked outside, the girl could see InuYasha's back facing her.

It was still dripping a bit, but the storm was gone. Now half demon, InuYasha, who's wet bangs dripped to the ground, curiously stared ahead in concern.

"InuYasha?" Kagome walked up to the boy's side and looked at him curiously. But he didn't even turn his head. "Is something wrong?" She still didn't get a reply, but when she looked to see what was before her, the question was answered.

A soul collector up ahead flew around in circles for a bit, and flew away.

They both knew that wherever there was a soul collector, Priestess Kikyo was near, because the only way for her to stay alive after death, was to receive the souls of the dead women that the snakelike demons collected for her.

Kagome's heart started to pound and her stomached tingled. She soon turned back to the half-demon curiously. _It's obvious…that he wants to see her._

"I'll be back, Kagome," InuYasha finally spoke without making any eye contact and soon ran off after the soul collector.

Kagome felt a sharp pain in her chest as she watched the boy leave. Her face, full of concern and sadness, was now facing the ground. _InuYasha…and Kikyo…I guess…that's how it should be._ Even though all this was too hard for her to face, the girl knew InuYasha would be back, for wanted to travel to find more jewel shards.

Kagome knew InuYasha's biggest desire was to collect all the shards of the Shikon Jewel so he could use it to become a full demon. But for some reason the girl was having second thoughts about that. She knew how InuYasha felt about Kikyo. She knew how much loved her. After their quest was over would he go stay with Kikyo, or stay by Kagome's side?

She thought back the tears and didn't want to even think about it. She just didn't want to think about it.

Once the others got up they all questioned Kagome where InuYasha was. She struggled a bit and gave a sign that it wasn't a good thing. But it was only bad to her. She knew deep down that there was nothing wrong with InuYasha wanting to see the woman he loved.

"He went to go see Kikyo," she said sadly.

Miroku and Sango both gave sad looks at her when the monk spoke. "I see…"

"But why?" Shippo asked angrily, "it's not like Kikyo's gonna help us collect the shards. He's doing it for his own personal reasons." The child was glaring now, sick of the thought of InuYasha hurting Kagome. He knew that she was hurting. Everyone did.

"You can't really blame him," Kagome said sadly, "he does love her."

"But that was all in the past. He knows how much you are important; more than HER."

"Uh…Kagome," Sango started, trying to find the right words to say when she noticed Kagome's back was facing them.

"He'll be right back," said Kagome. "That's what he said."

Everyone tried to think of something to say, but they couldn't and decided to g along with what Kagome said.

Soon enough about half an hour later, InuYasha did come back, acting as if nothing happened and kept a straight face. "Alright," he started, "lets go. The jewel shards aren't just gonna walk up to us."

Miroku tried to ask about InuYasha's meeting with Kikyo, but by the looks of it, it seemed that the half-demon didn't want to be bothered about it, so the monk let it go for now.

"Ok, I spy with my little eye, something," Kagome said to Sango and Shippo, who along with Kirala, walked seven feet behind InuYasha and Miroku. "Something…green."

"That tree over there," said Sango, who pointed away.

"That was right! Your turn."

"Ok…I spy with my eye…something…" she looked ahead of her to see that Miroku had turned his head and gave her a big smile. The girl's stomach started to tingle as she moved her head the other way while blushing. "Something…purple."

"Purple?" Shippo asked. "Is it Miroku's clothing?"

Sango's face started to turn red but she shook her head. "No."

"What about…" he turned to see a tree. "Those plums?"

"Nope."

The fox child stopped walking when a purple butterfly landed on his nose. He could hear Kagome and Sango laughing in the background before he watched the insect fly away. "I got it. That butterfly."

"Right."

There was suddenly an annoyed grunt from ahead of them.

Shippo continued to walk with Kagome and Sango. "I know what I spy. It's something gray."

The two girls didn't seem to figure it out.

Shipppo rolled his eyes. "InuYasha's attitude."

"Sango seems to be really charmed by my good looks," the monk sad to InuYasha who said nothing, but looked annoyed. Miroku figured this would be a good time to speak with InuYasha. "InuYasha, tell me, what did you and Kikyo talk about?"

"Huh?" he finally looked at the monk. "Nothing…important."

"I see. I can tell it wasn't good just by the way you looked when you returned."

"Well, you got it all wrong, Miroku! We just…talked."

It was silent for a couple of seconds when Miroku continued. "InuYasha, let me tell you something. You may have been in love with Kikyo, although she never comes to stay with you. But Kagome always stays with you. Don't you think that maybe…Kagome is worth more than Kikyo?"

"What!" he blushed. "What's with all the woman interrogations?" InuYasha heard a giggle from behind and turned to see Kagome laughing with Sango and Shippo. That happiness and laughter brought a smile to the half-demon's face.

Mirokku noticed this and smiled. "It seems that Kagome makes you happy…I'd say that's enough to know."

InuYasha turned to Miroku and blushed. "Enough to know what! Huh…" He came to a sudden stop that confused the others who stopped as well.

"Is something wrong?" Miroku asked. He thrn turned ahead to see that they came to a cliff.

"I smell…fish…and water."

Kagome and the others walked closer to see water down below. Kagome's hear sunk when she noticed that this very same place seemed just like the one in her recent dreams.

"Maybe we should take another turn," suggested Miroku.

"Yeah," InuYasha let out softly.

All of a sudden something between the guys and girls jumped up and made a vicious growl. Kagome gave a huge gasp as InYasha and Miroku both turned withi a glare. Kirala transformed into her big, full, fang-mouthed, vicious self and stood there ready to fight.

The creature between the companions was twenty feet tall. It's head was the shape of a man-eating plant with the color of red and had razor shark fangs. The rest of it's body was a long, think, green stem with pointy thorns on it that would probably break a tree trunk in half with just one cut. It then had two stem-like arms with claws at the end, and glowing purple eyes on the head.

The monster looked around at the people and finally put it's arm up, ready to strike specifically InuYasha, who jumped out of the way and landed in front of Kagome and Shippo. He finally unsheathed his sword, which transformed into the big fang that was once his father's. "Say hello to my Tessaiga," he said in a low, raspy voice as he smirked at the demon.

InuYasha jumped up, his sword raised in the air, and was ready to shoot out the wind scar when a big green arm harshly knocked the weapon out of the half-demon's hands, and landed on the ground. It was now a rusty sword again.

InuYasha was shocked as he landed on the ground and glared up at the monster. "That stupid week blocked out my Tessaiga."

"I guess there is only one solution to this," Miroku said as he put up his left hand on his right one, which had prayer beads wrapped around it.

"No Miroku," said Sango as she put her hand on the monk's arm, "the thorns on the demon will just cut your hand, making your wind tunnel spread even more."

He knew she was right, so he resisted, knowing that there had to be a nother way to defeat this demon.

"Let me try!" Shippo bravely exclaimed as he stared at the monster and jumped toward it. "Fox fire!" he cried as he shot out small flames of blue fire out of his hands. But even though it touched the demon, there seemed to be no affect. "Oh..no.."

"Move out of the way, Shippo," said Sango, who was now on flying Kirala's back. She held up her giant boomerang bone and harshly threw it toward the demon. Right after Shippo fan out of the way, Sango's weapon hit the monster's left arm clean off, and the creature growled in pain. As Sango got her weapon back, Shippo jumped up and down full of excitement.

But InuYasha had a different thoughth about it as he glared up at the demon. _The thing was powerful enough to hit my sword out of the way. This seems too easy._ Before he knew it, a new arm started to grow on the monster and it roared proudly.

"It grew back!" Shippo cried nervously.

InuYasha angrily growled as he jumped up to claw the thing into pieces but suddenly felt a sharp pain through his side and fell straight to the ground on his back.

"InuYasha!" Kagome cried. She looked up at the demono and saw someothing pink and shiny in the middle of the body. _A jewel shard!_

InuYasha, who's side was now bleeding, slowly stood up and glared at the demon again. _This thing is smarter than I thought._He watched as the arm went straight down toward him.

`Although, the half-demon jumped out of the way just in time, and saw Sango's weapon hit the demon's arm off once more. But again, it just grew back. The monster turned toward the demon slayer while growling when Kagome's voice was heard.

"It's got a jewel shard!" she exclaimed as she held up her bow and arrow, ready to shoot.

The plant demon turned toward the girl and growled loudly. And just before it could do anything to her, Kagome released the arrow, shooting straight toward the monster.

The sacred arrow went right through the middle of the body, causing the creature to create a howl. It growled in pain as the shard dropped to the ground.

InuYasha quickly ran over and picked up his sword, which transformed again, and jumped up to hit the demon. But right before he could hit it, the monster quickly pulled itself under the ground.

The half-demon landed on the ground and looked down curiously. It was quiet as the others ran over and looked as well.

"Is the demon dead?" Shippo asked as he jumped onto InuYasha's shoulder.

No," he answered, "it just escaped." He kept his glare as he put his sword back into his sheath.

Kagome reached her arm down and picked up a tiny sharp object. "it's the jewel shard," she softly said.

"Well at least we managed to get a jewel shard."

"But what's gonna happen to the demon?" Shippo nervously asked.

Miroku looked down at the ground once more and looked in the direction they come from. "I I didn't know better, since it's some kind of plant, I'd say with the help of its roots, it probably went somewhere else."

"So, it's still out there somewhere," Sango concluded, although her voice sounded very nervous.

"Maybe it was too scared so it went back home," Shippo suggested, hoping he himself was right.

"Well," InuYasha started, "we can't go any further this way. And b y the looks of it, I bet the thing was too weak without it's jewel shard."

Kagome suddenly looked at InuYasha's side, which was covered in blood. Her heart sunk. "InuYasha, you're injured."

The half-demon looked to his side and put his hand over it once he realized the pain. "I didn't even notice."

"Come on. Let's go back so we can fix it."

"We only got one jewel shard. I ain't goin back now! Besides, this wound his beyond nothing."

Kagome gulped as she looked at InuYasha's wound once more. It made her a little nervous to see him hurt, but she knew he was right. He had demon powers, and he could handle way more than just that.

Just before anyone could say a thing, Shippo broke the silence with a big sneeze before he started to feel light-headed.

** Ok, please review, and if you have any mistakes to point out or any suggestions for me, let me know!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So sorry it took so long. I got so busy over spring break and I was too lazy to think. lol. But I really want this story to be good, so I have to work hard on it. Thanks for waiting, and here's chapter 4!**

Chapter 4

"By the looks of it," said Miroku, "it looked like some kind of plant. And it was very smart."

"I see," Old Priestess Kaede replied in concern as she sat face to face with the monk and demon slayer, who had little Kirarla on her lap. "I have heard of some sort of plant demon."

"You've heard of it?" Sango curiously asked as Kirarla gave a small meow."

"Ay, it is known to be very strong, dangerous, and deferentially smart. But it lived on a different land."

"I see," Miroku said in a serious tone as he put his hand up to his chin. "Then it must be something we need to go after. Because it if is here, it would want to destroy people."

Sango nodded as Kaede checked the pot of stew on top of the fire.

Kagome suddenly entered the hug with a bowl of water and headed for the little fox demon that lay soundly on top of a mat and under the covers. The girl sat next to the boy and gave him a warm smile as she held out the bowl toward him. "Here Shippo," she said.

He sat up to take the object from Kagome and started to gulp it down.

"It's always good to drink lots of fluids when you have a cold."

Once Shippo took a breath from drinking the water, he sadly looked to the ground. "I'm sorry, guys," he spoke, "I was stupid to go out in the rain and get sick. Now I've caused everyone to come back from hunting jewel shards."

"Don't blame this on yourself, Shippo," said Sango whose head was now turned toward the child, "it's not your fault."

"She's right," Miroku said as Kagome nodded in agreement.

"Ay," Kaede said as she started to the pot for some stew. "It's this terrible weather we've gotten." The old priestess was not eye level with Shippo as she handed him the bowl of stew. "Ye can't blame the body for getting sick."

Shippo started chewing down and swallowing the food that warmed up his throat and soon his whole body. "You guys can go without me," he said.

"Don't even think that way," the monk calmly replied before giving the child a warm smile. "We all depend on your help."

Shippo, feeling relieved and proud at the same time, lie back down and let Kagome tuck him in. The girl then took the water and stew before saying, "Just sleep. We can leave again tomorrow."

After Shippo closed his eyes Kagome couldn't help but wonder about InuYasha, who wasn't even inside with them. _He was so upset._ She remembered that once the plant demon escaped earlier, InuYasha's bad mood increased. _A break would do him some good. But didn't he get a break while I was gone?_

It had to be Kikyo. Something about his little meeting with her must have made the half-demon upset. But what? Kagome knew that InuYasha loved Kikyo, but was he really doing to go back with her later on? Even though she was dead?

The girl shook her head to get those hurtful thoughts out, and tried to think of the possibilities of why InuYasha was so depressed. Did Kikyo say something that broke his heart? Did their conversation turn into a fight? But Kagome knew that InuYasha never fought with Kikyo. They always got along, unlike he and Kagome.

"Kagome, where's InuYasha?" Sango finally broke the silence, which started the 15 year old.

Kagome looked to see all eyes on her, including Kirarla's. It was as though they were reading her thoughts. "Um…outside I think."

"You should talk to him; he seemed really upset."

"It must have been because the demon got away," Miroku suggested, although he was sure there was more, but he kept his mouth shut about it.

Kagome thought that maybe she could try and ask InuYasha about Kikyo. _Of course, he's never honest about it._ But the girl finally stood and casually left the hut to find the half-demon.

There was no longer rain dripping outside, and the only thing Kagome saw was a gray sky, wet grass, other huts, and a few of the villagers gathering some of their crops. Kagome finally laid her eyes on the nearest tree, where InuYasha sat on his back against the trunk, one knee up, his other foot dangling off the branch, and his usual arm-crossing habit.

Kagome also noticed a sad look in the half-demon's eyes, which were set away from her, as she walked toward him. Although the girl wasn't so sure about this as she stopped about half way there. _Should I leave him alone?_ She kept staring at his depressed face, which of course made Kagome's heart sink.

She had to talk to him. She needed to hear him be honest with her and explain why he was sad. SHE wanted to be THAT person he could talk to.

Kagome took a deep sigh and continued to walk when she finally got there, staring up at him. He didn't seem to react at all, so the girl decided to make casual talk to start things off.

"InuYasha?" she asked.

He said nothing and kept staring at the open village.

"InuYasha…Kaede made some stew. Don't you want any?"

"No thanks."

At least she got him to make a sound, so she kept going. "Look, I know your upset that the demon escaped. And that---"

"I'm ticked off because Shippo's foolishness slowed us down, and now all of you wanna wait."

Kagome kept watching him and finally saw that he was looking at her, with both feet dangling and one arm up against the tree and trunk, and the other on the branch to keep his balance. The girl could see InuYasha's anger, but the sadness was bigger. "InuYasha, was it…something that Kikyo said?"

"Huh?" His heart started pounding when he heard the girl mention it, and his claws started to dig into the tree bark of the trunk.

"What did you guys talk about?" She didn't sound envious; she just sounded concerned.

"N…nothing!"

"Was she not there? Did you…not see her?"

"No!"

Kagome ignored his shouting and tried to get through to him as if she were talking to a child. "No? She wasn't there?"

"No…I mean…ah!" The half-demon jerked himself back into his original position, and let out last two words in a soft voice. "Forget it."

The girl felt bad. She felt hurt, and she got nothing out of this, except she was sure it was because of Kikyo. She knew InuYasha was lying. He always did when it came to this subject.

Kagome slowly turned around and started to walk back.

Right after the girl left, InuYasha looked at her with concern. He knew how much this hurt Kagome. He knew how much it hurt her that he kept things from her. But didn't that not mean that she would feel better if she were honest with her? If she he was honest with Kagome about anything, it would only hurt her more. _Kagome…_

Kagome didn't want to have to explain to the others what happened. There was nothing to explain. InuYasha wouldn't talk, and that was that. Of course, when the girl came back into the hut, the group did ask her about it, but she refused to speak, and in stead kept a straight face as she sat down in front of the fire.

Kagome could feel all eyes on her, but she didn't move. She just stared into the fire.

Miroku sighed as Sango and Kaede both gave disappointing head shakes, for they always knew that whenever Kagome seemed sad, it was because of InuYasha. He was always hurting her, but the half-demon never did admit to anyone.

Shippo was sound asleep by the time InuYasha entered the hut. "I'm gonna go hunt the demon," he said sternly.

Everyone except for Kagome curiously looked at him.

"It's driving me nuts that it's still out there."

"We'll go with you then," Sango suggested, but before she could stand up, InuYasha protested.

"I wanna go alone."

"InuYasha," Kaede started worriedly, "from what I've heard, this demon ye all encountered is a strong and smart one. Don't go alone, for ye won't be able to succeed."

"You saying I'm not strong enough, old woman?" He sounded very annoyed now.

"What she's saying," Miroku said, "is that takes more than one person to fight something like that. It takes team work."

The half-demon turned around with his nose in the air toward the exit. "Keh, sounds likes to me that you're over estimating me." And in a second, he was gone. Gone and leaving everyone concerned, confused, but stayed up.

Kagome didn't like it either that InuYasha was going alone, but from what had happened in the past, he would either come back succeeding, or to make a play about it with the others. The girl was sure he would be fine.

By the time he left the village, the half-demon started out by sniffing the air for a scent, although what he could mostly get was the smell of worms. No familiar demon.

So he brought himself on both hands and knees and started sniffing the ground. He could sometimes pick up a scent from the ground. InuYasha crawled for a moment, but still couldn't get anything.

He started to get irritated and growled when his hand landed in something soft and sticky. He lifted it up find red peddle pieces sticking to his nails when he noticed a big plant almost the size of Shippo was right in front of him.

The half-demon looked at it curiously and gave a sniff, for he had never seen a plant like that before. Once InuYasha smelled it, he got the same demon scent from before. "It's nearby."

He jumped up immediately and started running in the same direction, further into the woods. After a moment InuYasha saw another red plant, and the scent was getting stronger. _I'll get it. I'll get you._

After about ten minutes, the half-demon's sensitive nose started to twitch as a same, yet different scent got really strong. It was so strong that it made his eyes water. "What the heck?"

Pretty soon, InuYasha made to the end of the forest, and jumped out to find a field. Not just any field; a field of flowers. There were so many that it was almost impossible to see the ground, and they were the colors of red and purple mixed together.

"What is this?" He put his sleeve up to his face to avoid the horrible smell, but it was so strong that it made the half-demon feel dizzy. He tried to ignore it, but the stench grew stronger as he cursed under his breath.

InuYasha knew he was lucky enough not to faint, but the strong, horrible scent that smell almost like anything bad possible brought the boy to his knees, and soon started coughing. He could feel something evil all around him, but he couldn't see anything, for this vision started to get blurry, and he suddenly felt very weak.

InuYasha coughed some more as he brought his whole body down to the ground except for his face. He moaned a bit as he clenched his fists. He couldn't see a thing right now, and he felt light headed. And soon every nauseous when he heard an unfamiliar voice.

"He, he, too strong for you, Half-demon?"

InuYasha didn't move, but did dig his claws into the dirt as he clenched his teeth. Even though he couldn't see a thing, he heard somebody, and he knew that whoever this evil person was, he was there.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

InuYasha felt the evil presence come closer to him, but his weak, blurry vision remained the same and he still couldn't get a good look at the guy at all. His body was still too paralyzed, although he did hear the same voice again.

"Ha, ha, ha, you think you're stronger than me? Well think again."

For some reason InuYasha's strength started to come back, strong enough to move and slowly push himself up. By now, the half-demon's vision was becoming back to normal, and he could see a black figure standing seven feet ahead of him.

InuYasha coughed out the rest of the horrible stench he smelled, and grunted before giving a weak glare as the figure spoke.

"He, he, don't feel too proud, Half-demon. You are now able to function only because I have cut you some slack."

The boy could finally see some color in the guy, and soon enough he could make out the features.

He had two solid purple eyes, long, red hair that was pulled up in a ponytail, two pointy green ears that each looked like a leaf, and a crown made of tiny roses on top of his head. He seemed to be wearing armor on his shoulders, chest, and back that was the colors of red, blue, and purple.

On top of all that, he looked like a man, but by the scent InuYasha was picking up, he was clearly a demon.

InuYasha put his right hand on his side, ready to unsheathe the Tetseiga while growling. "Who are you?" he finally let out angrily."

The strange demon evilly grinned. "What a great question. And only to be answered so a weakling like you would know the name of the guy that's going to kill you."

InuYasha never even thought of believing those words that guy was saying, and he wasn't afraid to fight him either, no matter how strong he was.

"My name is IraKouba, lord of the plant demons."

InuYashah smirked. "What kind of lord wears girly flowers on his head." He pulled out his sword when he said those last two words.

The demon rose up his arm and chuckled. "You have a big mouth, but that sword of yours won't kill me."

"Try me!" The half-demon suddenly saw a thorny vine pop out of IraKouba's arm and came toward him. He quickly put his sword out in front of him to avoid it, although he his sword got pushed to the ground.

InuYasha slowly sat up with the Tetseiga still in his right hand as the plant demon chuckled. "You're a weak match, Half-demon."

InuYasha growled as he stood up and faced the demon. "You're underestimating me." He suddenly jumped forward, ready to attack, but before he could touch IraKouba, he felt another thorny vine tightly wrap around his right arm.

The sharp pain was very small to the half-demon, but as he tried to pull away, the grip grew tighter, and he couldn't move as he grunted out, "I don't think I am." The horrible stench from before suddenly came back as InuYasha started coughing.

"You're just a weak half-demon."

InuYasha felt himself being pulled by the vine as he coughed some more, but not once dropped his sword.

"Should I gag you with my mist that's too strong for your sensitive dog nose?"

InuYasha growled.

"Or should I pierce your heart with my sharp thorns." IraKouba held up his other arm, and slowly let another vine come out.

The half-demon attempted to look at his match as his hand gripped harder on his sword. "How about…neither!" He let the vine that was already wrapped around his arm pull him forward, rose his sword up, and cut IraKouba down before he had a chance to react.

Once the Tetseiga hit the demon, some mistier stench sprayed into InuYasha's face. He started coughing more than ever as he dropped his sword and fell to his knees. He then put his arm up to his face as he continued coughing when he heard a faint voice.

"InuYasha!"

The half-demon groaned trying to figure out who it was that had called him, when he started coughing again.

"InuYasha!" The voice was getting louder and clearer, and he could finally figure out whom it was. _Kagome!_

"InuYasha!"

He suddenly had the strength to move as he pulled himself up and looked to see a blurry picture of the girl.

"InuYasha!"

He kept staring at her. _Kagome…_

"InuYasha! Are you ok?"

The boy's vision was finally clear to see the familiar, yet worried Kagome staring at him. He gave one more cough before feeling the girl's hand on his back.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

InuYasha cleared his throat. "The flowers…they were…"

"What flowers?"

InuYasha's eyes widened before looking around himself to see a field with no flowers. _They're gone. That means…IraKouba is gone too._ The half-demon suddenly felt dizzy."

"InuYasha?"

He gave her a weak stare.

"Are you ok?"

Yeah." He didn't have any more coughs left in him, but he felt like his head was going to split in half.

"Here." Kagome took a hold of InuYasha's arm and sat him against a tree trunk in the forest. Then she gave him a bottle of water. The girl sat down next to him and gave him a curious look. "So…what flowers are you talking about?"

There was a two-second pause before InuYasha spoke while looking at the ground. "There was a whole field of them. And…they had the same scent as the plant demon."

"The plant demon from earlier? Did you see it?"

He finally looked at her. "The plant demon was controlled by IraKouba, lord of the plant demons."

"IraKouba? Where is he now?"

InuYasha looked back to the ground. "From what it looked like, the flowers were also a part of him. I managed to get him with my sword, and the flowers disappeared. And I can't pick up the same scent anymore. So…I must have killed him."

Kagome nodded and gave a sigh as she wrapped her arms around legs. She looked at the ground. "So…are you ok?"

He looked at her once more with his amber colored eyes. "I guess. Although that horrible stench gave me a huge headache."

The girl looked up at him. "Just drink the water and rest for a while."

InuYasha sighed as he looked down at the bottle and took a gulp out of it. _Well, at least the demon's gone._

"InuYasha?"

"Huh?" He turned to Kagome who was giving a curious, yet concern look. "What is it?"

"I know I've ask you this before…and you gave me a straight answer." She looked back at the ground, but felt InuYasha's eyes on her as she continued. "And yet, I know it was a lie InuYasha. I know when you're honest and when you are not." She finally looked back up at him who was looking at her curiously. "What happened between you and Kikyo?"

He sighed as he looked at the ground and remained silent for ten whole seconds. He could still feel Kagome's eyes on him, waiting for an honest answer. It was so hard to express his feelings, but he wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her what happened, no matter how it hurt himself. "When I went to see Kikyo…"

Kagome squirmed for a more comfortable position so she can listen to him properly.

He started to tell her what happened. He didn't forget anything about.

He remembered running through the woods, coming to a sudden stop when he noticed the familiar priestess standing on a hill. "Kikyo!" he shouted.

She looked at him and gave a lifeless stare as he waited for an answer. She replied by turning around and walking away, leaving the half-demon clueless and hurt.

"She didn't even look back," he told Kagome.

The girl stared at the ground sadly as InuYasha finished the story. She couldn't believe what she just heard. InuYasha went after Kikyo, the girl he was madly in love with, she had to admit even though she hated the thought, and the priestess hurt him. She didn't say hi or even dare to walk toward him. "InuYasha…"

The half-demon looked at her curiously and could see tears welling up in the girl's eyes. _She's crying? No way!_

"I'm…so sorry, InuYasha."

He curiously watched her wipe the tears away and rest her head on his shoulder. He wasn't sure what was going on. _I'm sorry? That's it? That's all she's gonna say._ He wasn't so sure if Kagome's reaction was enough or not. But it satisfied him enough that it didn't turn into an argument.

In fact, it seemed to turn into a peaceful moment, as the two soon fell asleep.

"InuYasha, I was so cold. But now…. I'm so warm. Thank you." Kagome smiled with her eyes shut as she felt her own heart pounding. _InuYasha…InuYasha is staying with me._

Pretty soon, the girl felt very chilly and started to shiver as she kept her knees close to her chest. "Inu…Yasha?" She quickly opened her eyes to find herself alone in the forest. Kagome gasped and looked around herself. "InuYasha?"

The 15 year old slowly stood up with her hands against her chest to fight the chilly wind, and also the fear of being alone. "InuYasha?" She gulped harshly as she nervously started to wonder around the nighttime forest. "InuYasha?"

Kagome walked for almost five minutes and still couldn't find her half-demon companion. She started to grow very nervous and let out a whimper. "INUYASHA. This…isn't funny. Come on…" She kept walking as she followed the sound of water gentle flowing.

_He wouldn't just leave me alone._ The girl came to a sudden stop as her stomach tingled. _What if something happened to him?_ "InuYasha! InuYasha!"

The sound of the gentle water flow caught Kagome's ear as she slowly turned her head to the right. There she could see a small creek surrounded by big trees. She suddenly got this feeling that she had to walk. She had to walk toward that creek.

The girl breathed deeply as she nervously walked toward the trees. "InuYasha? Are you there?" She went passed them and stopped where the water started. Kagome looked ahead to see if she could find him. But he was nowhere to be seen. "InuYasha? InuYasha, please come out!"

Kagome softly screamed and jumped back once a frog jumped out of the water and hopped pass her feet. She breathed harshly, watching the slimy creature hop away.

The girl then turned her head back, and slowly looked down into the creek. There she could see her reflection. But it startled her, because her own face looked a lot like somebody else's.

"Kagome? Kagome, wake up!"

Kagome felt her own heart pounding and her skin sweating, but also some warm hands on her shoulders. She opened her brown eyes to see amber ones staring at her.

"Kagome…"

"Inu…InuYasha!" She jumped back, a little surprised, but quickly jumped back in for a huge embrace. "InuYasha! Oh, I was so…I thought you left me."

"Huh?" He was confused, but gave the girl an annoyed look. "Why would I leave you? You always get yourself into trouble. There's no way I would leave you behind."

She smiled, but some how she felt really sad. "InuYasha…I was so scared. I thought you didn't care…I thought…"

The half-demon sighed and slowly wrapped his arms around Kagome. "It was just a bad dream."

After the two ended the hug, Kagome looked around her to see a daylight forest. _It was night in my dream. Was I not asleep that long?_ She curiously looked at InuYasha. "How long was I asleep?"

It took him about seven seconds to reply, and it began with a flush of pink on his cheeks. "I…don't know. I was sleeping, too."

Kagome's heart started to pound. She wasn't sure if she actually fell asleep with the boy or not, but she did know that InuYasha was there. He was there to make sure nothing would happen to her, even though her nightmare told her otherwise.

She shook her head and started to blush as she turned her head away from him. "Oh…ok."

There was a long silence before InuYasha stood and looked up at the sky where the birds flew and the sun still rose. "We should probably head back. The others are probably worried about you."

Kagome curelessly looked at him. She saw how brave and strong he looked. It was as if he never recently went into battle. It was as if he knew he was 100% untouchable. But the girl knew he was wrong. "InuYasha…._ I _was worried about _you_."

InuYasha's dog-ears twitched. "Huh?" He curiously looked down at her, but then looked back, annoyed. "Chtt…don't talk like that. Nothing can get me. So quick worrying about me all the time."

She sighed. _His ego won't ever go, will it?_ Kagome stood with a yawn. "Alright, lets go back."

The half-demon's curious eyes still remained on the girl. He could tell she was a little tired, and he wasn't in the mood to wait around for her. He sighed annoyingly and leaned down in front of her with his arms straight back. "Get on. We'll get there faster if I go by myself."

It took her a few seconds to react, but finally gave in and climbed on to InuYasha's back. She felt his hands wrap around her legs so she wouldn't fall, and he gently pushed her up a bit to give her balance.

Before Kagome knew it, the "two" were running through the forest. Sometimes Kagome liked to walk or even have her own ride on her bike. But it wasn't a horrible thing for her to ride on the half-demon's back. In fact, it was quite relaxing when she wasn't in the move to go on her own.

Kagome put her hands on the boy's shoulders and rested her head on his back. She had to admit; she was relieved that the plant demon they had encountered was gone. But the nightmare she just had still wandered in her mind. _That face. That face I saw in my reflection. It looked a lot like Kikyo._

Kagome softly side as she felt the cool wind blew in her face. It was silent between the two as InuYasha ran out the woods, and it wouldn't be long until they got back to the village. But it still gave the girl a little time to think. She knew that she was Kikyo's reincarnation, and that even though they were two completely different people, they looked a lot alike. Except that Kikyo was older and probably prettier, Kagome was sure of that.

It was heartbreaking to Kagome that InuYasha couldn't make up his mind with whom he really wanted to be with. Even though Kikyo's body and soul was still on Earth, she was still dead, and that was a very good reason for InuYasha to forget about her. Especially since it was 50 years ago that he and the priestess fell in love but were torn apart from each other.

The girl sighed as she saw herself and InuYasha running through the familiar village. _It was all in the past, but he still loves her._ She then thought about how the half-demon seemed to really care about Kagome and didn't want anything to happen to her. And his affections toward her were deep, but he was never truly honest. And even though he had been so caring toward Kagome, his heart would always go back to Kikyo.

The 15 year old tried not to whimper at the thought. _I'm NOT Kikyo. Sometimes it seems that he forgets that. He must see her eyes in mine. Or maybe he's a two-timer. _She didn't really know what to think. This triangle was so confusing, and besides, she and InuYasha weren't dating, but InuYasha probably wasn't dating Kikyo either. What it seemed to everyone, and you didn't have to be smart for this, but it seemed that the half-demon just couldn't make up his mind.

Once the two got to Kaede's hut, they both heard a greeting from Sango.

**Ok, so I was gonna add a little bit more to this chapter, but then I thought I'd end it there. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the long update, you guys. What happened is that I started typing up this chapter and saved it, and somebody from my family accidentally deleted it. So I had to type up the whole thing over again, PLUS finish up writing the chapter. Anyways, I hope you like this one!**

Chapter 6

"InuYasha, Kagome," Sango said as she and Miroku walked over. InuYasha leaned down to let Kagome off as Shippo ran over as well. "Are you ok?"

"You found him," Miroku said. "See, I told you he would be fine, Kagome."

"Ok, I was worried, though," said Kagome.

"Did something happen?" Sango asked. "You look awful, InuYasha.

"The plant demon is gone," InuYasha replied, as the other looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean gone?" Miroku softly asked.

"I mean dead. I found a field of flowers, which was a part of IraKouba."

"IraKouba?" Sango curiously asked.

"Yeah. IraKouba, lord of the plant demons. He was the one controlling them all. I had quite a battle with him, but the flowers disappeared soon after I killed him."

"So…the plant demon is dead?" Shippo asked in concern.

"Yep." The half-demon crossed his arms and looked the other way, showing a sign of how proud of himself he was. "So you don't have to worry about those stupid plants anymore."

"Well, that's a relief," said Miroku.

Shippo curiously looked at Kagome and saw some sadness in the girl's eyes. _Kagome…_

"Well then I guess we can move on now," Sango said.

"InuYasha, what did you do?" Shippo asked angrily, which silenced everyone and made everyone curious. Kagome, too, was curious, but she was sure that she didn't like what he just started.

"What are you talking about it?" the half-demon asked angrily with a glare.

The fox child pointed at him. "Kagome's upset, and I'm sure it's something you did!"

"Huh?" Kagome let out in a whisper. Did she really look upset? She did feel a little happy that Shippo cared about her, but she really didn't want to get into it. Especially after that horrible dream she had.

InuYasha looked at Kagome curiously, wondering why she would be sad. He had no idea what he could have done, and he was getting really tired of people blaming him for her sadness. He looked back at Shippo with a glare. "I didn't do crap!"

"But there's always _something_-" Before he could finish, he received a hard wack on the head by InuYasha's fist. The child started to whimper why rubbing his head.

"InuYasha…!" Kagome let out angrily. Her shoulders were straight up and her arms were straight down. It was a sign that the half-demon didn't like, and he gave her a scared look, hoping that she would spare him this time.

But the next thing InuYasha knew, he fell face flat in the ground, once Kagome used the word "Sit" on the enchanted beads of subjugation that he wore around his neck.

As Kagome and Kaede prepared for their lunch picnic, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo all sat under InuYasha's favorite tree, which InuYasha himself was sitting up on branch with his legs and arms crossed and his eyes closed.

"So then we'll stay here again tonight," Miroku said to the others, "and we'll leave tomorrow morning to look for the jewel shards."

"Sounds like a plan," Sango agreed.

The half-demon opened his eyes when he heard those annoying words. "Hold up!" he said as he broke out of his original position and looked down to the others. "We aren't waiting _again _till the next morning to travel. We're leaving one we're finished eating."

"Kagome was upset with you, so we think a night of cooling her off would do her some good," Shippo said.

Before InuYasha could reply Kagome's voice did so instead. "You guys, I'm fine."

Everyone, including InuYasha turned to see the girl holding a picnic basket filled with hers and Kaede's cooking.

"Don't worry, Kagome," said Shippo, "we'll take care of InuYasha for you."

The half-demon glared as Miroku and Sango put in their similar comments. It made him furious that everyone bugged him about this because he couldn't think of anything he could of done to hurt Kagome. In fact, he figured things were perfectly fine since they haven't fought recently, taking away the hassle he had with Shippo.

"How many times do I have to say," Kagome said annoyingly, "I'm not upset with anybody! Let's drop it, ok?"

By the big silence, InuYasha knew that everyone was convinced, so he jumped down from the three to join the others. "So it's settled; we go after we eat."

Nobody else argued with the idea, and together ate their picnic lunch.

"I made some soup," said Kagome, "so it should help out with your cold, Shippo."

The fox-demon was glad to see a smile on the girl's face again, and it made him smile himself. "Thanks Kagome."

"Feel any better, Shippo?" InuYasha nicely asked.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better, but I'll still take the soup."

InuYasha rolled his eyes, knowing that Shippo was just messing with him, making sure that he wouldn't take the soup instead of himself. But instead of fighting, he continued on his own meal as if he hadn't eaten in days. It was a normal thing for him whenever it was time to chow down.

Just as planned, once Kagome had all her things packed, the group started their travels soon after lunch. They were always willing to travel around to collect the shards of the Shikon Jewel, even though they knew that their adventures would sometimes be perilous, but were always prepared for a battle.

After a few hours, though, nobody could find a thing; not even a demon or a human to fight, and it started to get irritating, especially for the half-demon.

InuYasha groaned as everyone walked by a riverbank. "This is ridiculous," he started, "a few hours and we haven't found a thing."

"Patience is what we need," Marko replied calmly, "it's a big country, and fairly normal not to find anything on the first day."

"I know that! Don't think I just started this today, Miroku. I'm just gonna crack if I don't find _something _to do in the next ten minutes."

"Calm down."

As the girls rolling their eyes walked behind the men, Shippo pounced behind them as he chased a purple butterfly. Without anyone noticing, he slid down the ledge to the river and continued chasing the flying insect.

The fox-demon was about to pounce when he suddenly noticed a big plant about the same size of him right in front of him. His heart started pounding like crazy when he noticed it was a familiar big red plant.

Shippo gasped and looked up at his companions. "You guys! Come here and look what I found!" His voice was shaky and scared, which brought InuYasha down in a second. "What is it, Shippo? What do you see?"

The fox child nervously pointed down, and InuYasha gasped once he saw it.

"What's the matter, Shippo?" Kagome asked as she and the others made it down also.

InuYasha let out a growl, which got everyone's attention.

"InuYasha?" Kagome asked.

"It's back."

"Hm?"

"One of the plants is back. Which means IraKouba is still alive."

Both Sango and Miroku looked around but couldn't see anything suspicious. "I don't sense any demonic aura," Miroku stated.

"Yeah, but the demon has to be near by!" InuYasha angrily unsheathed his sword and destroyed the plant in a second. He angrily put his sword back. The plant demon lord had still been alive and the half-demon didn't like this one bit.

"We're gonna have to search for this IraKouba," Miroku suggested.

InuYasha swore out loud and clenched his fist and teeth. "I thought I killed him. The field of flowers disappeared at that point!"

"It must have been an illusion you saw," Sango guessed.

"InuYasha," Kagome started, "we have to go find him."

As the others continued their discussion, Shippo noticed something move in the water, and moved closer to it. _Huh? What is that?_ After leaning in to get a good look at whatever it was he saw the fox-demon suddenly fell forward and into the water.

Kagome was the first one to notice Shippo, and immediately took action. "Shippo!" she cried and right away dove in after him.

"Kagome!" InuYasha exclaimed as Miroku and Sango called out her name also.

Kagome continued to swim down under toward the frightened fox demon. She knew the kid couldn't swim and nothing was stopping her from saving him.

InuYasha worriedly stared at the moving river, waiting for Kagome to come back up. But even after a moment, knowing Kagome was pretty well swimmer, the girl still didn't come back yet, and all three of them remained worried. InuYasha would go after her if she didn't come back any second.

Finally, after one and a half minutes, Kagome popped up above the surface with Shippo in her arms. Before anyone could react, though, a big rapid pushed the girl back down.

"Kagome!" InuYasha screamed, and with his heart racing, jumped into the water.

"InuYasha!" Sango called out.

As the boy remained still under the water, the half-demon searched for Kagome. _Come on, Kagome._ After ten seconds, he finally spotted the girl swimming back up.

Once Kagome came back above the surface, she realized she was further away from the others.

"Kagome!" somebody shouted, which sounded like Sango's voice.

Kagome gasped repeatedly as she tired to keep Shippo and herself above the water.

"Kagome!" The girl quickly turned her head and immediately saw InuYasha swimming her way. "Inu—" before she could finish, another rapid pushed Shippo out of her arms and down the river.

"Kagome!" the child cried.

"Shippo!"

"Kirarla!" Sango commanded, and the cat demon transformed into her huge self so her owner and Miroku could get on to help their friends.

Kagome forced herself after the fox, ignoring InuYasha's calling. She kept going, and just before she could reach Shippo, she was pushed under again.

Kagome bravely swam back up, and was able to grab a hold of a tree trunk.

"Kagome!" InuYasha screamed again as he swam by the girl.

"InuYasha, get Shippo!" she called out.

The half-demon wanted Kagome to be saving, but once he saw Kirala flying down, he knew she would be and went straight after Shippo.

The fox-demon tried his best to stay above the water, but not being able to swim, he sunk down. The boy wiggled his arms and legs, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't move up; at least not until he felt big strong arms on him.

Once they were up the surface, the kid gasped and fearfully climbed onto InuYasha's head to keep himself above the water.

"Hang on, Shippo!" InuYasha called and thought about using his supernatural strength to jump out. But before he could, he was mysteriously pulled right under right after hearing Kagome call out his name.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long update. I've actually been on vacation for a week, and luckily while I was gone I managed to get this chapter written! Enjoy chapter 7!

Chapter 7

InuYasha still didn't realize how he was pulled under, and neither did Shippo, who held onto the half-demon for life. Although they both noticed a muffled roaring sound as the two opened their eyes wide, curiously looking around to find whatever it as.

Still finding nothing, the sound continued and this time it sounded like a word; but not even InuYasha's sensitive dog-ears could pick up what it was, or did Shippo, who was just freaked out. After hearing the mysterious sound again, the two were suddenly pushed up above the surface.

"InuYasha!" Kagome, who was on top of Kirala with Sango and Miroku cried as she saw InuYasha and Shippo fifteen feet above the water. Kagome fearfully watched the two when she sensed something very familiar and powerful. _I sense a jewel shard._ The girl gasped when she saw something long straight up in the air coming from the water. Then she saw a bright pink light. _There it is!_

As Kirala flew further, aloud roar was heard, and InuYasha and Shippo were suddenly being thrown forward.

"InuYasha, Shippo!" Sango exclaimed. Kagome, without freaking out, immediately got her bow and arrows out and shot ahead.

As Shippo screamed, InuYasha reached down to grab his sword, but it was too late when he crashed faced down on to a pile of rocks.

"InuYasha!" Kagome cried.

"Kirala!" Sango ordered, and the cat flew further ahead.

As the child whimpered, Shippo with his eyes shut clung onto InuYasha's hair. When he realized it was quiet, the fox opened his eyes and gasped when he saw InuYasha unconscious. "InuYasha!"

The child jumped off and looked at the half-demon, who was bleeding in places mostly on his underside. "InuYasha…" He wanted to cry when he heard Kagome calling him and saw Kirala and the others coming his way. When the cat landed, Kagome immediately jumped off and leaned down to Shippo's level. "Shippo, are you ok?"

The child sniffed and took another look at InuYasha. "I'm fine; but InuYasha…"

Kagome looked at the half-demon as Miroku and Sango came over to take a look at him also. "InuYasha…" Kagome softly said as she put her hand on him.

Shippo's green-blue eyes started to well up with tears as he looked at his strong companion unconscious. "I didn't mean to," he let out through his tears, "it's all my fault!"

"Shippo, it's not your fault." Kagome knew for sure it wasn't any of their faults. She sensed something evil before, and she was sure she saw it before shooing it down with her arrow. There was a jewel shard some where also that must have dropped in the water. But her first concern was InuYasha.

"It's strange," Miroku started with his hand on his chin, "I was sure I picked up something evil for a mille-second. I didn't see it, but some how InuYasha-"

"Miroku, look," Sango necessarily interrupted as she pointed down. Everyone else gasped when they saw, wrapped around InuYasha's left ankle, a vine, where blood appeared, probably because of the sharp thorn that cut through his skin.

"I…is that a plant demon?" Shippo shakily asked.

"Yes, I'm certain," Sango, replied with no doubt.

"IraKouba is still alive," said Miroku, "and he must have grabbed InuYasha and slammed him down, trying to kill him."

Shippo took another look at InuYasha, who still hadn't woken up, which scared the kid. "Oh InuYasha…"

Sango took another look at the vine, which was long enough to reach the water. Then at the end it looked like it had been torn. "It seems it broke away."

"I know," said Kagome, "I shot it with my arrow when I saw the jewel shard." She figured that Miroku and Sango were too distracted to notice.

"The jewel shard?" Miroku curiously asked.

"Let's focus on InuYasha's wounds first," Sango suggest, fallowing by Miroku nodding in agreement.

"Oh no, InuYasha said IraKouba had a poisones gas," said Kagome as she put her hands on InuYasha's foot, "I hope it didn't inject him." Besides the rushing river, it was quiet as Kagome carefully started to unwrap and pull the vine off. IT was hard, not wanting to tear the boy's skin anymore, but the girl was lucky enough to only pull a tiny bit. Shippo whimpered when that happened.

When the vine was off and thrown to the side, everyone could hear InuYasha's deep sigh, and once Kagome came to his head, she could see his amber eyes half open. "InuYasha, are you ok?"

"K…Kagome," he softly let out with no eye contact.

"Yes, I'm right here."

The boy's eyes finally met Kagome's face, which seemed a little blurry to him at first. _Kagome…she's all right._ The next thing InuYasha did was force himself to sit up as Kagome put her hand on him. "Don't get up so fast."

Miroku and Sango sighed with relief that InuYasha was ok as Shippo ran up to the half-demon with a worried expression on his face. "InuYasha! I'm so sorry. This was my fault. If I wouldn't have gone down and fallen, this never would have happened!"

"Don't blame yourself," he replied, "and plus," he grunted as he tried to ignore the pain, "this is far from nothing."

"But you're bleeding."

"I lost my backpack with my first aid kit in the river," said Kagome.

"Oh no," InuYasha replied as he adjusted himself, "we are _not_ going back just because I got a little wound."

"But InuYasha-"

"No!" He seemed very angry now, judging by the look on his face and the tone in his voice. And this time everyone knew nothing would convince him now. "Besides," the half-demon grunted as he let himself on his feet and his back facing the others, "IraKouba is still alive." His voice was soft now, but by looking at his body motions his shoulders, he still seemed angry.

"Kagome, where's the jewel shard?" Sango curiously asked.

"Huh?" InuYasha immediately turned around and acted as if his wound disappeared. "You found a jewel shard? Where?"

"Um…" Kagome leaned down to the water and searched with her eyes. Since she was the only one, besides Kikyo, to sense the jewel shards, there was no way anybody else would see it clearly underwater.

As Miroku and Sango waited patiently, InuYasha crossed his arms and tapped his foot, not liking the idea that Kagome let the shard fall in the water. According to him, it would take the girl forever to get it.

Shippo's heart was still pounding from the incident. InuYasha was the one who went to save him, and because of falling in the river, he blamed himself for it. The child looked up at InuYasha who had a grumpy look on his face. Shippo was sure it was because he was mad about IraKouba still being alive, and impatient with Kagome. But still, he had to ask.

"So, you're not mad at me?"

"Huh?" The half-demon looked down at the child with his arms still crossed. "Why would I be mad at _you_, Shippo? You didn't do anything."

"But I got you hurt."

"Chst," InuYasha let out annoyingly and turned his head the other way. "Would you quit going on about that? It ain't your fault!"

"He's right, Shippo," Sango said, "you didn't do anything wrong."

"You actually," Miroku said with a sweet smile, "did a good thing for all of us. Now we know that IraKouba is still alive."

"Would ya hurry up, Kagome!" InuYasha rudely asked.

"I am would you be patient!" Kagome exclaimed. Although she was use to InuYasha being so rude, it sometimes made her angry. The girl squinted her eyes some more to get a good look in the water. Usually it was easy for her to spot the jewel shards, but it was harder with all the harsh rapids in the way. Although, after a few more moments, Kagome finally saw the bright pink light. "There it is! About ten feet ahead, and it's way down there!"

"Alright!" The half-demon went to the edge and jumped in right away, knowing it was too dangerous for Kagome.

"But InuYasha!"

"Forget it Kagome," Shippo said annoyingly as he stood beside her, "InuYasha, as usual is being stubborn and doesn't think about his wounds."

A second later the half-demon popped back up, scaring Shippo onto Kagome's shoulder. "I heard that you twerp!" he exclaimed before going back down.

"Woe! He can hear even from down under water?"

After a couple minutes InuYasha came back with the jewel shard, and Kagome added it to the rest of the shards she kept in her jar.

"Alright, let's held out," InuYasha ordered as he stood ready to go. "I wanna take down IraKouba right away."

"Alright, first of all," Miroku started, "you were just wounded, so you need to be treated."

InuYasha rolled his eyes. "Would you get off my back? I only got slammed onto a pile of rocks. Big deal."

"Sharp rocks," Shippo fearfully let out as he still saw blood on the half-demon's torso.

"InuYasha," Kagome started with concern in her voice, "you're not just gonna go after him after what happened."

"I ain't waiting around," the half-demon replied with his arms crossed. "Besides, I'm fine."

"We should probably think about it first," Sango suggested.

"Think about what? Whether we should kill him or not? Look, I know now that IraKouba is strong, so I gotta destroy him now before he does anything else."

Miroku walked right up to InuYasha. "That's just it," he started, "he is strong, even for you. The best thing to do is stop for a bit, and think things through. Thinking about what he's capable of, and what we can do to stop him. And probably after what happened today, he's also going to think things through. That will give us plenty of time to make a plan and for you to recover."

Deep down InuYasha knew he was right, but being too angry, he was afraid to admit it. So he looked Miroku straight in the eye with a glare. "You haven't even seen him yet; only I have. So since he's strong, he'll be strong for you! And judging by nothing is happening now; he must fear us after what happened! And I ain't gonna wait around and be lechered by a lecherous monk, telling me to just stop!"

Soon after InuYasha's temper went down, it was decided tat nobody would go back to the village. Although, they did decided to find a resting stop for the night. Surprisingly, InuYasha didn't argue.

That night, the gang sat around their campfire, discussing their current situation. "We have to think about what IraKouba is capable of doing," said Miroku.

"Well, he has that poisoned gas, and is very strong," suggested Kagome.

"Even stronger than InuYasha," Shippo whimpered before getting scolded by the half-demon.

"InuYasha," Miroku started, "you have a very sensitive nose."

"Yeah, so what?" the half-demon asked in a grumpy tone with his arms crossed.

"You're gonna need us to back you up."

"What are you saying, that I'm not strong enough?"

"Not at all."

"We're just saying," said Sango, "that since you're a half-demon and have a sensitive nose-"

"But since you guys are mortals," InuYasha interrupted, "you'll be weak to it as well. I think that it's best you stay out."

"What, you mean you want to work alone?" Kagome fearfully asked. "I don't think so! You're crazy to say that!"

"Kagome's right," Sango calmly agreed.

"Hmp." InuYasha turned the other way like a child. "First things first. We need to find out where he's hiding."

"That's true, too," said Miroku, "he's hiding somewhere, but he's allowing his plant demon minions to come out and attack."

"Do you think maybe he's afraid of us?" Shippo curiously asked.

"Hmm…" the monk put his finger up to his chin, "interesting question, Shippo."

"If he _is_ afraid of us," said InuYasha as he turned to face the others again, "then is shows how weak he is."

"Although he was capable of showing great power," Sango said as she also put her finger to her chin, "with his vines and poison gas."

"All we know," Miroku said, "as that he is up to something. We barely know him yet it seems that he's on to us about something. InuYasha, do you know him in some way?"

"Not at all," the half-demon softly answered.

Shippo responded with a deep yawn. Kagome smiled at him and then looked at the others. "We should probably get some sleep."

"Good idea," Miroku spoke.

"Tomorrow," InuYasha replied, "I have to track him down."

"You mean _we_," Sango corrected him, although the look on InuYasha's face was worrying everyone worried that the half-demon was thinking otherwise.

Everyone started to get in his or her sleeping positions, except for InuYasha, who just stared at the cracking fire. Whenever something big was happening, he couldn't get it out of his mind. He never wanted to stop until he took care of it.

"InuYasha?"

He didn't have to think or even look to know it was Kagome, who sat down next to him. "You're not thinking of going to do this by yourself, are you?"

He said nothing.

It worried Kagome, but she was very calm, and there was no doubt that she could talk the boy out of whatever he was planning by himself. She hugged her knees as she spoke. "We're all a team, and we work together. Especially when it's something this big."

"Kagome, IraKouba was strong. Even for me. I don't want him to hurt you."

She smiled, feeling great that the boy cared so much about her. But it didn't mean he had to do things by herself. "Like I said, you'll always protect me. I never doubt you with that. And you shouldn't doubt us either."

He finally turned his head toward her and gave a weak look, which made the girl's heart sunk.

"InuYasha, you don't need to worry."

He turned back to the fire and remained silent.

Kagome stood up and before she went to her sleeping back, she stopped and turned her head toward him. "How's your wound?"

"It's fine." To him, it really wasn't that big of a deal, and he was already healing quickly even without medication.

The girl smiled. "Thank you, InuYasha."

He still didn't turn his head. InuYasha was starting to get use to that line from her, even though he still never knew what she meant by it.

"Thanks for saving Shippo."

"Are you…ok?" His voice sounded soft and almost shy.

Her heart started to pound, but she kept her smile on. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." And with that, she went to her sleeping back to get some sleep.

InuYasha, on the other hand, still sat and stared at the fire. He knew these friends were willing to back him up. Yet he knew how strong IraKouba was, and it sometimes scared him to let them face something so strong. For some reason, he felt like it was Kagome he was scared for the most. He wasn't sure why, though. He just did.

Far from the forest the companion stayed at, IraKouba grew angry when he found out that his demon minion had gotten shot by an arrow. And plus, he lost a jewel shard. The demon deeply sighed with his eyes closed. "I want go easy this time."

Kagome whimpered a bit as she tried to conquer her uncomfortable sleep. But so far, it wasn't working. She began to sweat and her heart started to pound as her sleep still didn't end.

The girl stood silently in the forest as she faced a familiar priestess, who looked at her with concern.

"You don't belong here," Kikyo said. "You don't belong with him."

Kagome gulped as she felt the tears coming, but never made a sound.

"You may be my reincarnation, but he only has one."

"One what?" she managed to weakly let out. _One what?_

_ One what?_ Her brown eyes finally opened as she could hear the fire crack, which was very dim. Kagome's heart was pounding more than ever, and she was scared to look and see that InuYasha was gone.

She slowly turned her head forward, and luckily found the half-demon sleeping against a tree. She sighed with relieve, and decided to lay her head back down. But Kagome kept her eyes open, as she thought about what she heard. _One what?_ _InuYasha…please._ She buried face down in her arms as she closed her eyes. _Please don't leave me._


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everyone! Hope you're enjoying my story so far. Like I said, I really want this to be a good one. Anyways, I wanted to make at least 14 chapters, so I might be halfway through with the story.

**Also, when I'm finished with To Die For, I'm gonna take a break, and soon write My Claim, which is a South Park story. Along the way I may be able to write some of my side stories like my modern day version of InuYasha if I don't get any writers block. :) And during the time, I'm gonna put my poll up so you can vote for my next InuYasha story.**

**Oh by the way, this chapter maybe have some violence.**

**Ok, here's chapter 8! Enjoy!**

Chapter 8

InuYasha felt a funny feeling in his nose that was bad. The scent was dark with a nasty stench of gas and weeds, and it and it brought the half-demon's eyes right open. The day was morning, but still, but still early, so it was still dark out. InuYasha didn't like the smell he picked up, but it made him anxious.

He finally stood and looked out to the forest with a glare on his face. _IraKouba's scent…he's near._ InuYasha knew that it he ignored this opportunity to go and end things, he would regret it. He would regret letting his friends be in danger when he knew he had a chance to take this demon down.

After taking one last look at Miroku leaning against a tree trunk, Sango laying on the ground, and Kagome and Shippo lying side by side on a sleeping back, the half-demon took off.

It was quiet in the dark forest besides the crickets, and InuYasha decided to move slowly so he wouldn't miss a thing. He walked until the bad scent in his nose got stronger. He knew for sure he was getting closer, and kept walking through the forest.

Soon InuYasha felt a strong aura and smelled the familiar scent stronger, and heard a sound through the bushes. The half-demon clenched his teeth and glared as he put his hand on his hip, ready to unsheathe his sword.

It soon became quiet as InuYasha stood and searched with his bright amber eyes around the forest; and just before he could spot a thing, he felt a force push him up in the air. Once the boy noticed the demon coming up from under the ground, he flipped over and landed safely on his feet.

After unsheathing his Tetisiga, InuYasha faced what seemed to be a familiar monster that he and his friends battled a couple days ago. He growled at his opponent. "So, you decided to come back!" he shouted. "Well this time you won't get away!"

"HA, DON'T TALK BIG, HALF-DEMON!" it let out deep and monstrous.

"Huh?" InuYasha was shocked, because he knew that from the last time, this demon could not talk. It confused him, but not even close to scaring him and he was off in a second, attacking the thing.

The half-demon raised his sword up to slice the thing to pieces, when the monster suddenly and quickly squeezed under ground, completely disappearing before InuYasha could land.

The boy gave a speechless expression when he noticed the monster dodged his attack. "Woe." He never remembered the demon being that fast before, and it began to worry him.

"NOW!"

InuYasha quickly turned around to feel a sharp pain in his chest as he was pushed by the monster's thorny vice, and thrown to the ground.

Shippo slowly opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them as he sat up. "Inu…Yasha?" The kid looked to see that InuYasha wasn't there, and it scared him. "InuYasha?" He stood and looked around to figure out where the half-demon went, and gulped before taking off to search for his friend.

Shippo slowly and nervously walked through the forest, hoping nothing would attack him. "InuYasha?" The kid continued to walk for a minute now when he heard a loud roar from up ahead.

The boy gasped as he fell back and on his bottom and stared out into the direction where the scary sound was coming from. He stood again, and started to back away when he heard a familiar voice.

"Die!"

"InuYasha!" he cried softly and forced himself forward. He felt like he was in danger, that his friends were in danger, and maybe InuYasha was trying to take care of whatever it was.

Once a whole moment passed, Shippo finally spotted two figures. One that had to be InuYasha, and a much bigger one that seemed to be some monster.

InuYasha tried hitting the demon once more, but it dodged him again, and just like the last time, the monster was too quick for InuYasha to turn around and got hit.

"InuYasha!" the fox exclaimed. It was his first reaction after seeing his companion being thrown; again.

InuYasha forced himself up and turned to see Shippo after hearing him call his name. "Shippo, get away!"

"DON'T SLACK!" the plant monster let out before throwing its thorny vine on the boy again. Although, InuYasha did manage to roll back before the vine could hit him.

Shippo saw blood the half-demon's face, chest, and torso, and it was enough to send the kid away so he could get help. Seeing InuYasha wounded was enough for the child to know that he needed as much help as possible. The half-demon was usually super strong, and he could take a lot of hard attacks, but he wasn't 100% invincible, and there were times where he had been close to death even with his supernatural strength.

Shippo ran faster, knowing he was the only one who knew that InuYasha was in battle. Once the fox-demon got to everyone's resting zone, he started shouting and pleading for his friends to wake up. "Kagome! Sango! Miroku!"

It was enough to wake up all of them. "What is it, Shippo?" Kagome asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and when the fox demon clung on to the girl's arm. "You have to come!" he cried.

"What's wrong, Shippo?" Miroku asked.

"It's InuYasha! He's fighting!"

That made Kagome immediately turn to see that InuYasha was not there and gasped. "InuYasha!"

InuYasha tried many times to take the plant demon down, but every time he attacked, it dodged out of the way, being way too quick for him. After landing for the fifteenth time, the half-demon stopped what he was doing and started panting as the monster spoke.

"WE'VE GONE TOO EASY ON YOU, BUT NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO DIE!" With that, it attacked again, making the boy come back to his senses, and jumped out of the way. And before he could land, he felt a harsh pain through his back, not realizing that the vine had just gone behind him and pierced through his back as he fell to the ground. The pain was intense, but one stab couldn't stop him, and he was already back in the air with his sword up.

InuYasha hated demons that took forever to kill, but he would never stop until it was gone for good. He took a deep breath as he heard familiar voices call out his name, but ignored them and released Tetsiga's special attack. "Wind Scar!" he exclaimed and the sword shot out a demonic energy toward the monster.

Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirala all closely arrived when the blast hit the plant, and Kagome wanted to run up to her half-demon friend to ask if he was ok, although she first wanted to know if the plant demon had died.

Everyone watched for the smoke to go away. "Did he do it?" Shippo nervously asked. Once the smoke was gone, the monster was shown on the ground in a couple of pieces, which answered Shippo's question. Of course, they were all wrong when they saw the thing regenerate and come back to consciousness.

"No way," Sango let out shockingly. Everyone was confused until they noticed the demon's familiar face. "Wait a minute," said Miroku, "that's the same one from before."

"Yeah," Sango replied, but it's different; like stronger."

As the monster slowly started to raise its vine up, InuYasha turned to the others with a glare. "You guys, get out of here now!"

After everyone protested, Kagome screamed "InuYasha, look out!"

But it was too late when the boy turned around and got hit in the face harshly, dropping his sword, and being thrown to the ground on his belly.

"InuYasha!"

This time the boy struggled, and the plant started coming near him. "HA, HA," it chuckled as it slowly moved it's vine down and started to scratch his back with one single thorn. "THIS LITTLE DOG GOT SCRATCHED. THIS LITTLE DOG GOT SCRATCHED AGAIN."

InuYasha harshly grunted and Sango immediately threw her boomerang toward the vine, cutting in off, although it just grew back, but it was enough time for InuYasha to jump up and scratched the center of the plant with his claws.

The monster cried in pain, but grew angry and harshly pierced InuYasha's stomach and pinned him to the nearest tree as the boy screamed out in pain.

"InuYasha!" Kagome cried. Seeing him in peril was just too much for her, but she knew there wasn't much to do once she realized she had no more arrows left.

InuYasha grunted as he tried to pull the vine out of himself, although the only thing that happened was poisons gas started to come out, and even for him, it was just too hard and even more too painful. This kind of thing didn't happen to him everyday, but it did happen to him quite a few times. This just meant that it was one of those almost impossible to kill demons. He knew now that this monster was not going easy on him. That for some reason it really wanted him to die painfully, although he had no idea why, judging how smart it was.

The pain grew, and it was the only thing he could think about. He never realized Kagome and Shippo calling him or Miroku and Sango trying to kill the monster, but failing.

The plant had the boy pinned so hard that the tree trunk started to crack, and then, being the sick, evil monster it was, it finally moved one of it's smaller vines to him and harshly hit InuYasha's neck. That's when the boy stopped struggling and let out a gagging grunt as the thorns pierced through his throat and more gas started to show.

InuYasha's hands were still clung to the vine that was in his torso, but he was completely still, and his pupils were dilated when he became in shock. Once the blood started to drip from the half-demon's neck, Kagome screamed his name harshly as Shippo buried his face onto her shirt, not wanting to see a thing.

Sango was then lucky enough to throw her weapon again, and cut the two vines off the monster. She then tried her best to kill it, but could never win.

Miroku, though, knew that noting could take this thing down. He knew there was only one solution, and he was ready to risk it all if it meant saving his friend. The monk unwrapped his beads on his right arm with a glare.

That's when Shippo started yelling at him, pleading him to stop as Sango turned to him fearfully. "No Miroku! The thorns, you can't!"

"I have to, Sango." And with that, he put up his hand, letting the black hole show that started sucking up the demon. It screamed as it was being pulled into his hand, and the monk grunted as he felt the thorny vines pierce through his hand, and the monster was also a tough one. It took a whole minute for him to suck the whole thing up.

Once it was gone, Miroku wrapped the beads back on, and fell onto his knees as Sango ran over to him and cried his name.

Kagome, on the other hand, even though she cared about Miroku, ran up to InuYasha so fast that Shippo fell off her shoulder. Once the 15 year old got to him, she immediately started to pull the vines out. The one on his neck wasn't as hard as she thought it would be since it didn't pierce the tree.

"K..Kagome," the boy barely let out.

"It's ok, InuYasha," she whispered, "it's ok." It was the other vine that would be the problem. She put her hands on it, and right after taking a deep breath, she pulled it as hard as she could. It did take a few seconds since it was going all the way through him and through the tree.

The boy finally collapsed to the ground as Kagome put her hands on him, trying to ignore the blood that fell as she struggled to help him up.

Sango called for Kirala, which immediately transformed to its bigger size so it could carry the wounded friends. Everyone knew that traveling was not an option; that they had to get back to the village.

Once everyone got back to the village, Kagome immediately went through her first aid kit to help her friends. The only thing she could do for Miroku was give him something to help the pain. His wind tunnel, though, got cut, and it needed to be stitched up, so he was sent to his guardian, who could stitch it up pretty well.

InuYasha, on the hand, needed more. Even though he was a strong half-demon that could handle a lot, this was one of his roughest battles yet. He could barely get a scratch on the plant demon, and he was the one that scratched up horribly. Even for him, that was just too much for him.

Kagome, with the help of Kaede, had to treat his face, back, chest, stomach, and neck. He didn't complain much because he could barely move. Then he had to take medicine since he got poisoned. He wouldn't die so easily like a normal human, but he still needed treated as quickly as possible.

Around lunch that day, Miroku had come back to the others, although he rested for a bit so his hand would heal properly. "Are you going to be ok?" Shippo asked him.

"Of course, Shippo," he said, "I'm going to be just fine. I just need some rest."

Shippo believed him, and wanted to ask InuYasha the same question, but he was unconscious, so he asked Kagome. Even though he was sure InuYasha could survive through this, it still hurt him a lot to see him like this, and he wanted positive words about him.

"Shippo," Kagome started as she ate lunch with him under the tree, "you know InuYasha. It won't take him more than a few days to get better." It destroyed her to see InuYasha in so much pain, but she did believe he could get through this.

"Kagome," Shippo said, "InuYasha went off by himself, and wanted us to leave him alone. Why did he have to do that? He needs us and he knows it." He started to get angry and clenched his teeth."

Kagome sighed. The same question went through her head. Why did InuYasha have to do this all by himself? She knew that he could be very stubborn and overprotective, and she really hated that.

The birds chirped as Shippo waited for an answer, and the girl finally spoke. "InuYashah is just…dense." Now _she_ was angry. She remembered she tried talking the half-demon into not doing stuff alone, that he needed his friends' help. But he didn't listen.

Shippo rolled his eyes as he took another bite out of his sandwich that Kagome made for him. "InuYasha is stupid," he said with his mouth full, "stupider than anybody I know."

That evening, everyone, except for InuYasha, talked to Kaede about the battle they were just in. "It just couldn't be killed," Sango softly said, "and it has a huge grudge. What does it want?"

"We don't even know this demon," said Kagome as the old priestess nodded, "why would IraKouba want to kill InuYasha so badly?"

"Does InuYasha know this IraKouba?" Kaede asked.

"No," Sango answered, "didn't you say it was from another island or something?"

"Ay. If all these plants are from another island, than IraKouba is from another island. And he would come here to get something. But that, ye don't know?"

Everyone shook his or her heads. It didn't make sense to them at all, and not even Kaede could figure out a solution. Nobody knew what IraKouba was up to. The only thing they did know was that he was controlling these plants that were trying to kill InuYasha, and that the horrible demon came from a different land.

They all knew it was important to go find IraKouba before he could do anything else. But they had to wait until everyone was in good condition.

That night when everyone was asleep, Kagome stayed awake with so many thoughts in her head. The first thing she was concerned about was IraKouba. What would he do next? When would he do it? And why? And there was InuYasha. She didn't even want to think about that battle he just had. She hoped he would heal soon.

Before Kagome could continue her thoughts, she heard a moan, and sat up to look around. She then noticed it was InuYasha, so he crawled over to him to see what was wrong. "InuYasha?" she softly asked.

He was still shirtless from being treated, and his eyes were half open as he clenched his teeth, trying to fight back the pain. "K..Kagome…"

"InuYasha, are you ok?"

He said nothing and softly scratched the floor as he finally looked up at her. "Kagome…."

"InuYasha…I'm so sorry this happened. But you shouldn't have gone off by yourself." Her hand was finally on his back now and she rubbed him gently.

"I'm….I'm not gonna let you." He closed his eyes even though he was still awake.

"Not gonna let me what?"

He said nothing.

"Not gonna let me what?" Her voice was louder now, but not loud enough to wake the others.

The boy opened his eyes again and moaned a bit.

"Oh InuYasha." She closed her eyes, hating that her friend was in so much pain. Even though she knew he should have asked for help with the plant demon, she still felt horrible. The girl looked around, hoping that nobody would wake up, and looked back down at him. "InuYasha."

He grunted and clenched his teeth as his body shook a bit.

"Do you…want me to help?"

He wasn't sure what she meant when she asked that, but didn't try to question her.

"I mean…do you want to rest…on my lap?"

He still wasn't looking at her, nor did he say anything. But after seven seconds, he slowly nodded.

Kagome immediately sat close to him, and as InuYasha lifted himself up a bit, the girl put her hands on him and rested his head on her lap. She didn't really care how awkward this would be, because she just wanted him to feel better. She wanted him to feel relaxed, and she knew that affection was one thing that would help him.

The half-demon moaned a bit before Kagome gently rubbed through his hair, trying to relax him. "It's ok, InuYasha," she whispered.

The boy's eyes were still open, but he started to feel a little bit better once he felt Kagome's touch. Some how, it just soothed him like a waterfall.

"I know it will be ok, InuYasha, and you do too. Everything is going to be ok."

It took about twenty minutes, but the boy finally felt no pain, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

**Ok, so I'm really sorry if the way inuyasha got injured wasn't creative. But we all know how strong he is, and he had to go through a lot to be injured. Just in case you guys haven't noticed, I do like violence. Not so much like Saw violence, but violence. Ok please review and let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! I hope that my last chapter wasn't too crappy. Anyways, sorry for the long update again. You know how it is, though. I get lazy and just don't feel like writing. But I've been brainstorming the next few chapters, so the story is on a roll! I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter 9

Kagome ran as fast as she could through the dark forest while she fearfully kept calling InuYasha's name continuously. She didn't look back, but knew danger was coming behind her and didn't stop to catch her breath. "InuYasha, where are you!"

After hearing a beastly growl, the girl felt herself being pushed forward over a cliff and screamed at the top of her lungs when she finally heard a splash.

It was quiet, and Kagome opened her eyes to see she was under water, and some how she could breathe. Before she knew it, InuYasha's unconscious face was right in front of her. _InuYasha…_

His eyes slowly opened and looked at the girl with sadness. Kagome didn't do much except move up to him closer and stared into his eyes. She wasn't sure what was going on or didn't know what to do. But she did feel safe and relieved that she was with InuYasha. The girl smiled a bit, and reached her arms up to embrace him when she saw his eyes go wide.

Kagome was confused and noticed that he half-demon was looking behind her. She was a little nervous that even InuYasha seemed scared, and she slowly turned her head around. The girl didn't know what it was because it was too quick for her to see, and attacked right at her. "InuYasha!"

It suddenly became pitch black, although it still felt like being under water. It was silent as Kagome started gasping loudly. "InuYasha," she whispered, and moved her hands around to touch him, but he was nowhere to be found. "InuYasha!"

Kagome felt her own heart pounding like a drum when she opened her eyes to the bright sun. She moaned as she wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked to the other side of the room.

There InuYasha was, sleeping soundly on his back with his bandaged wounds still visible. The girl sighed, relieved to see that the half-demon was still here with her, and stood up to walk out the hut.

Kagome wanted InuYasha to have all the rest he could get so he would heal faster. So she decided to go and look for some stuff for breakfast.

Shippo sleepily yawned as he woke up, and looked over to see InuYasha sleep. _That's right; InuYasha was wounded from the plant demon. I wonder how he's doing. _The fox child casually walked over and looked down at his half-demon friend. He didn't seem to be in much pain, but Shippo knew that didn't mean he was completely healed.

The kid sighed, wanting to know for sure how he was, and tapped InuYasha on the shoulder to wake him. "InuYasha," he said, "wake up."

He softly moaned and twitched his closed eyes.

"Are you ok?" Shippo asked.

The half-demon deeply sighed as he opened his eyes to see Shippo.

"Are you ok?" he asked again, knowing that he got his attention.

"Yeah," he softly said and sat up, not caring what pain he still had left.

"Don't force yourself up."

InuYasha ignored him, and came to questions. "Where's Kagome?"

"I just woke up. She probably went out for a walk or something."

It was silent until Shippo spoke. "So do you feel any better?"

"Yeah, a little. I should be as good as new by tomorrow."

"Good morning."

The two turned to see that Sango was sitting up awake.

"Hey Sango," said Shippo.

"How are your wounds, InuYasha?" she asked.

"Better than before," he answered.

"How's Miroku?" Shippo asked the demon slayer, certain that she would be the first one to want to find out. She took a look over to where Miroku lay asleep. "I don't know," she replied, "we should probably wait till he wakes up."

"Are you worried about him Sango?"

That's when the girl's cheeks turned red and she looked to the ground. "Well yeah. I mean, he was poisoned after all. But I'm sure he'll get better soon."

"Well," Shippo then changed the subject as he started for the flap door, "I'm gonna go get some stuff we can eat for breakfast." He stopped and turned back around before leaving the hut. "InuYasha, you should probably stay here. It would be better if you didn't move much with those wounds." And he was off.

"Chtt," the half-demon let out, not caring at all what the child said about his injures. He knew too well that his body was stronger than a normal human's.

It was silent for a whole minute in the hut when InuYasha decided to let himself on his feet, and started for the door flap.

"InuYasha," Sango started with a warning tone in her voice as the boy stopped, "Shippo is right. You shouldn't be off running around in your condition."

"Relax," he said softly as he looked over his shoulder, "I'm just going out for some fresh air; nothing more." And he slowly left the hut.

Sango sighed and took another look at sleeping Miroku as Kirala meowed on her shoulder. She decided to stand up and walk to the other side where the monk was laying before the cat demon jumped to the ground and left the hut.. As Sango sat down next to him, she put her hand on his forehead to see if his fever had dropped at all. It did, and the girl was relieved about that, but she stayed by his side anyways.

"Sango?"

Sango looked down to see Miroku's dark blue eyes half- open. "Miroku…how do you feel?"

He smiled up at her. "Much better now that you're here."

The girl turned red once again and moved her head the other way. "Th…that's not what I meant. I mean….did the antidote Kagome gave you help?"

"Yes."

She turned back to him. "So…then you're ok."

"Yes. I should be much better real soon. So you can go if you want. The others may need you to prepare for our morning meal."

"No! I mean, I wanted to stay here….to make sure you were ok."

The monk's smile grew, and it made Sango blush again. "I'm grateful that you care about me. And it soothes me to be in your presence."

Now Sango's heart was going crazy. Part of her wanted to stay with him, but the other part was saying "no". She finally stood with her eyes closed and spoke silently. "I better go. We wouldn't want you to try any funny business."

"Oh Sango. My sweet, sweet Sango. I'll take your word for it."

"Hmm?" She opened her brown eyes and saw that Miroku's eyes were closed again, and that made her nervous. She sat back down on her feet. "Miroku? Miroku?" She then gasped when she suddenly felt a hand rubbing her bottom, and that instant she knew for sure that the monk was ok, and gave him a smack on the face so hard that probably the whole village could hear it.

Then Sango left the hut to take Miroku's suggestion of helping the other's with breakfast.

After collecting goodies from the village, Kagome headed back to the hut when she saw a familiar figure up ahead. It was InuYasha sitting still alone outside the hut. She was shocked to see him up, but casually walked over. "Hey InuYasha."

"Hey," he replied as he watched the girl put her stuff down and sat next to him.

"How do you feel?"

"Much better."

"That's good." She let out a small smile. "You look better."

It was silent for a few seconds when InuYasha spoke. "So, are you sure _your_ ok?"

"Yes. The demon didn't touch me at all. It only hurt you and Miroku."

"You could have all been safe if you hadn't shown up."

Kagome started to get irritated. "InuYasha-"

"Hey Kagome!" Shippo called from ahead, holding a basket of fruits.

"Hey Shippo," the girl replied.

He walked up to the two and sat the basket down. "I got some stuff to eat, but it looks like you already did."

"That's ok, Shippo. The more the better."

"And I can see InuYasha's being a good boy staying put like he should be."

"Chtt," the half-demon let out while rolling his eyes, "shut up."

"Hey Kagome!" Sango called with an arm full of food, as well as Kaede, who had collected some a while ago, and walked up to the hut.

"Hey," Kagome replied, "looks like we're gonna have a big breakfast today."

"The more the better," Shippo repeated that line as he looked at Inuasha.

"Graah! How dare he let his companions interfere!" IraKouba exclaimed as he put his arms up in frustration, and turned down to one of his plant minions. "Are you sure it was destroyed?"

"Yes master," he answered, "it was sucked up into that monk's hand."

IraKouba growled. "I was so close to destroying him. But I can't give up. I won't. Not until the half-demon is gone."

Everyone, including Miroku, who was healing well with the help of Kagome's medicine, silently ate their breakfast in the hut. InuYasha, though, surprisingly didn't touch his food as he thought about how he almost got his friends killed. _It's too dangerous. I won't let them get in the way._ The half-demon knew how much his companions wanted to help him, but it was too important to him that they would be safe. He could already tell that this demon was going to be hard to defeat, and he wasn't going to let anyone get hurt.

"InuYasha?"

The boy turned to curious Kagome who was looking at him with concern.

"You barely touched your food."

"That's not like InuYasha," Shippo added.

"Are ye still in pain, InuYasha?" Kaede asked.

"Would you guys quit worrying?" he asked annoyingly. "How many times do I have to tell you that my body is built different than yours?" And with that, he forced himself up and started for the door flap.

"InuYasha, where are you going?" Kagome asked.

He didn't stop or reply, and just left the hut.

"INUYASHA, where are you doing?"

The half-demon stood outside the hut and sniffed the air. _I have to find him. Before he attacks again._

"InuYasha?" Kagome started as she came out to see that the boy had already started off. "InuYasha!"

He slowed down a bit and looked over his shoulder to see Kagome watching him. _Grr..Kagome…_ He stopped completely and faced his back toward the girl who ran up to him.

"InuYasha, what are you doing?"

"That's a dumb question."

"InuYasha, you can't! You're still hurt!"

He didn't look at her once and glared out in front of him, urged to go off and search non-stop until he found that evil plant. He then felt Kagome's hands on his arm.

"Come on, InuYasha, let's go back."

He didn't move until he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and winced, almost letting himself fall to his knees.

But Kagome prevented that from happening as she tightened her grip on him and helped him up. "See what I mean? You're still not completely healed."

The boy finally gave in and let Kagome walk him back to the hut. When they got there, Kaede, Miroku, and Sango were ready to step out and have a talk as Shippo said he was going for a walk through the village.

Kagome thought this would be the perfect time to re-bandage InuYasha's wounds, so she let herself and InuYasha inside.

The half-demon calmly sat down as Kagome went through her first aid box to find some more medicine and gauze. InuYasha remained quiet when he felt Kagome rub the cold medicine on his back. "If you go out and run off," she started, "it will take longer for your wounds to heal."

He sighed. "IraKouba or any of his plants could attack anytime. I can't just sit here and let it happen."

"Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and I got your back," she replied as she started to put gauze on his back, "I already told you that."

InuYasha softly growled, but surprisingly didn't yell when he spoke. "He's too strong for you guys. You saw what happened."

Kagome closed her eyes and remained calm, even though she was a little angry. InuYasha, as always, was being too stubborn, and she didn't like it. Sure IraKouba was strong, but even too strong for InuYasha, and she wasn't going to let him get hurt.

When she was finished with the half-demon's back, she moved up right in front of him. "I know what I saw. Lay down."

The boy sighed and slowly started to bend down and lay on his back. "Then you should know how dangerous it is for you."

Kagome reached down for some more medicine. "We've faced so much danger before. And I'm not afraid of IraKouba."

"You should be."

Kagome finally put her hands on InuYasha's bare torso, and froze when she touched him.

InuYasha's cheeks were burning as he stared at the blushing girl lifelessly.

Kagome didn't know why her cheeks were getting hot, or why her heart was pounding. In the passed she had treated InuYasha's wounds so many times, but now she felt kind of funny. The girl sighed deeply and started to rub the medicine in the wound slowly.

InuYasha winced a bit; after all, he did have a hold in his gut. But he finally let the pain pass and waited until Kagome was finished.

Their conversation mysteriously disappeared, and once Kagome was finished wrapping the gauze on him, InuYasha said he would stay near the hut for a while.

Shippo casually walked through the crowded village as he hummed to himself and licked a sucker that Kagome had brought from her time. The child loved to take walks, but more importantly, he loved to leave InuYasha and Kagome alone. They usually fought when everyone else was around, and to the fox demon, he figured if the two were alone, they could spend some time together and get to know each other more. _InuYasha's so stubborn. I hope Kagome can talk him out of doing anything stupid._

"That's pretty big."

"It's pretty, though."

Shippo gulped down the last bit of his lollipop, and continued walking, deciding to find out what the kids up ahead were talking about.

"What kind of plant is it?"

Shippo stopped dead in his tracks as his stomach started to tingle when he heard the word "plant".

"I've never seen anything like it."

The fox child started running forward toward the kids. "Don't touch it!" he cried when he was only seven feet away form the crowded children. They turned around as Shippo slowed down a bit. "Stay back and let me see," he said.

The boy gulped nervously as the other children slowly moved out of the way to make a path. Shippo wasn't going to turn back now, because he had to figure out if this plant they were talking about was a dangerous sign from IraKouba. He could be right or could be wrong, but it was worth the time to check. If this plant was a sign of the evil plant lord, Shippo knew it had to be destroyed immediately.

When the area was cleared, the fox child slowly walked up to the object until he was only nine inches away from it. The plant was purple, and it had the same size, shape, and pedal features of the other familiar flowers Shippo had seen before. It _was_ IraKouba.

Shippo didn't run away, though, and turned to the others. "Don't worry, everyone. Just stay back and I'll take care of it." There was no turning back now for the boy, so he looked back around and faced the plant as the others quietly watched. Even grownups were watching curiously now.

Shippo stared at the plant for three seconds and took a deep breath before releasing a bunch of his blue fox fire to burn the thing. The villagers talked quietly among themselves, confused of what was going on.

After ten whole seconds, Shippo stopped, and once the blue flames disappeared, the flower still remained. Some how he wasn't surprised, but still stunned at the same time. He was hoping he could destroy the thing, but it was still useless.

That's when the people's voices got louder, really surprised and confused that a flower was invincible. Shippo grew nervous, but still remained in the spot. He then turned back to the others and tried to calm everyone down and promised things would be taken care of. This was a chance to prove himself that he could do something big on his own, and without the help of his companions. Besides, they weren't even here to help him anyways, and there was no sense in turning back now.

The kid faced the plant again and took a deep breath before glaring. "Al right weed, I'm not gonna let you off that easy," he said in a brave voice. That's when a three-inch thick vine popped up from under the flower and quickly wrapped around Shippo's ankle.

Everyone gasped, and even some of the children started to cry and run off for their parents. "Oh no," the fox softly let out to himself, "it's ok, I'll be ok." But after he tried to pull himself free and the vine dragged him closer, he doubted that promise he made to himself and started to whimper continuously.

"Oh no," a little girl about the age of eight said, "I'll go get help!" And she started running, as Shippo tried his fire again to break the vine, but nothing seemed to work.

InuYasha and the others were all outside the hut having a little chat about their current mission when the little girl came running over, telling them the whole story. "Oh no, Shippo!" Kagome exclaimed, and immediately grabbed her bow and arrow and ran with the child through the village.

Many people started to panic, and now even Shippo was getting scared more than ever when he couldn't get himself free from the plant's grasp. He tried and tried to pull himself free, but still, the vine wouldn't let him.

"Shippo!" Kagome cried as made herself pass the others and stopped once she got to the little fox.

"Kagome!" he cried, now begging for the girl's help, and giving up on his plan of doing things on his on.

"Hold still," she said seriously, and took her bow out and pointed her arrow toward the flower. Once she knew the target was perfect, she released the sacred arrow, shooting the flower and letting a burst of pink show when it hit.

The plant was gone, and the vine weakened as Shippo quickly jumped into Kagome's arms. The villagers were stunned by what they just saw and talked to each other, asking questions like "Did you just see that?" and "Is she a priestess?"

"Hey, you ok, Shippo?" Kagome softly asked.

"Yeah," he answered, and was relieved that the plant was gone. That's when he and Kagome heard the voices of InuYasha, Sango, Miroku, and Kaede calling their names, and saw them and Kirala running up to them.

"Kagome, are you alright?" InuYasha asked.

"I'm fine," she replied.

"Those flowers have vines," Shippo nervously said, "and it seemed angry."

"Ay," Kaede said, "it seems that the plant demons are getting stronger and will stop at nothing until they get what they want."

"But what do they want?" Shippo nervously asked.

Kagome looked at InuYasha, who had already had his shirt and Fire Rat robe back on, and thought about what happened with him and that plant yesterday morning. It was obviously trying to kill him.

"IraKouba must have some grudge against InuYasha," Miroku suggest as he tried to shake the dizziness out of him from his sickness.

"But that plant just tried to get _me_," Shippo added.

"Then maybe," Sango said, "he's after all of us."

"He doesn't like us?" Shippo asked.

Kagome gasped when an idea of what was going on hit her and looked down at the little jar or shards that she wore like a necklace. "You think he's after the jewel shards?"

"Who isn't?" said Miroku. "If he knows we have the jewel shards, then that must be the reason."

"Yeah, he didn't seem interested in my Tetsiaga when I faced him before," said InuYasha.

"But he only tried to kill InuYasha before," Shippo said, "and it was Kagome who had the jewel shards."

"Maybe," Miroku started, "he was only going after InuYasha because he wanted to get rid of the hard work first, then move on to his task."

"But why would he want the jewel shards?" Kagome asked as she put her hands on the small jar. "He's already strong as ever."

"Ay," Kaede started, "and ye said that the first time ye faced one of his plant demons, it wasn't as strong as it was the last time."

"So maybe," Sango said, "he wants to get stronger and stronger, and that's why he wants to get us so he can get the jewel shards."

Everyone used Sango's explanation as a conclusion of what was going on, and it was silent for ten seconds until InuYasha finally said something. "Ok, IraKouba needs to be destroyed."

"Not until you and Miroku are completely healed," Sango immediately replied as the others nodded in agreement.

InuYasha closed his eyes and sighed. "IraKouba will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants, and I ain't gonna wait around until tomorrow. I'm gonna move now."

"No!" Shippo exclaimed as he jumped from Kagome's arms and to the ground.

"What do you mean _you_?" Miroku asked, trying to control his temper, "we're all in this together. We already made that clear."

"We're all in this together," InuYasha said with his back facing them, "but I'm doing it alone!"

"What!" they call exclaimed.

"InuYasha," Kaede started, "from what I've heard, even being completely healed ye are not strong enough to face him alone."

"Shut up old hag, I'm going alone weather you like it or not." He was finally facing the others with a glare.

"InuYasha, you can't!" Kagome exclaimed as she came six inches from the half-demon. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're not doing this alone!"

"And how many times do _I_ have to tell you that I'm not gonna let you get hurt!"

"But you will get hurt if you fight alone!"

"And I say that you're not strong enough to face him!"

Kagome growled in frustration with her arms straight down. "You're so stupid! You won't even think this through!"

"I _have_ thought this through! And you're stupid to not go alone with it!"

It was quiet for almost a minute, and everyone else was already scared of what angry Kagome would do next. And like always, she took a deep breath, making the half-demon nervous. "SIT!"

After InuYasha fell face down to the ground, Kagome stomped off in the familiar direction to the magic well that took her home, and nobody tried to stop her and just shook their heads annoyingly at the half-demon.

**Ok, I hope you liked the chapter. Wow, this was my longest one yet! Review and tell me what you think so far. And in the next chapter, InuYasha and Kagome are going to have some alone time together. Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"I can't believe the nerve of that guy!" Kagome angrily exclaimed as she through her yellow backpack on the floor and jumped onto her bed. "How dare he tells me what's what and calls me stupid!" The girl growled and sat up on her knees. _InuYasha faced that demon all by himself; and got injured really badly. And even after that he still wants to do things on his own after I clearly told him we can help! _

Kagome angrily through her hands on her pale pink pillow and clung to it tightly. "InuYasha, you're so stupid!"

"Somebody's having a rough day."

Kagome turned to see her brother standing at her doorway, realizing he had probably heard the whole thing. "Sota."

"You're back already? I thought you'd be gone longer."

"Give it a rest. I told you I can come home whenever I want. This _is_ where I live after all."

"Well, how long are you staying?"

"I don't know." She closed her eyes and pointed her nose toward the ceiling like she was a little girl not getting what she wanted. "Whenever I feel like it."

Soto still didn't move and quickly slid his school backpack further up his shoulder. "You know Kagome, maybe you should just let it go."

"Huh?" She turned her head back at the boy to listen to what he was going to say. He was on to something, although she wasn't sure what.

"You and InuYasha seem to get in these little fights often. But then you always make up. So whatever it is, you should just let it go."

Kagome couldn't believe what she was hearing, and whom she was hearing it from. It wasn't natural for Sota to give her advice like that, not to mention pretty wise-sounding for a third-grader.

"So um, how long _are_ you staying?" he asked again.

"I already told you, I'll leave whenever I feel like it! Now get out of my room!"

After Sota ran as fast as he could down the stairs, Kagome let out a big sigh and through herself back down. She sometimes got kind of moody when she was angry, especially with InuYasha. But deep down she knew her little brother was right. Sure, InuYasha was acting stupid and stubborn, but Kagome always managed to convince him to do things different. _Why does he have to be this way? Why can't he just let us help him? I know one thing, sitting around here isn't gonna help. I can't just leave him and the others. _Kagome then figured if she gave it some time, cool down, and make up with InuYasha, things would work out and the half-demon would eventually give in and let his friends help him like always.

"I can't stay here," she decided and got up to collect her things and headed back downstairs. When she did get down, her mother gave a warm smile and welcomed her home. "Hi mom, I'm going back now, bye!" She called as she ran out the house.

"Well that didn't take as long as I expected," Sota let out.

Kagome headed for the shrine and immediately jumped back down the well.

"InuYasha, why did you have to send Kagome home?" Shippo asked angrily.

InuYasha rolled his eyes and sat up from resting on his side. "Hey Kagome left by herself. She _chose_ to go home."

"Yeah, but you had to act like a jerk, and that's what made her leave!"

"Shut up! It's not your place to tell me what I should and shouldn't do!"

Shippo knew too well that anything smart he said to InuYasha would get a whack on his head. But it really made him angry how ignorant and stubborn the half-demon was being. Everybody agreed on that one. "Kagome cares about you, and so do the rest of us. Can't you just think about that?"

This time InuYasha almost did hit Shippo, but held back before standing up and leaving the area. He walked himself away from the village as he thought about what Shippo had said. _I know everyone cares about me. But I…I care about them, too._ Judging by his character and ego, that wasn't something he would say straight out to anyone, but he really cared about his friends. He really cared about Kagome, and because of that, he was ok if she went home. She would be safe, and that's what InuYasha wanted.

Kagome climbed out of the well that was in the beautiful forest she loved so much. _I hope he's not mad at me._ The girl slid her backpack further up her back and ran as fast as she could toward the village. She really hoped that InuYasha or any of the others left for IraKouba without her. She knew that they all needed her help.

When Kagome got to Kaede's hut, she found Miroku and Sango having an unknown conversation, and Shippo and Kirala playing together. She was a little concerned not to see InuYasha, and feared that he had gone to do what he had planned. But by the looks of everyone else, it didn't seem to be like that.

When she stepped closer, Shippo immediately saw the girl and ran toward her. "Kagome, you're back!"

"Kagome!" Sango called, shocked to see her show up so soon but relieved, as well as Miroku.

"Hey guys," Kagome said as Shippo jumped into her arms. "Where's InuYasha?" She didn't want to be rude for skipping the greetings, but this was important to her and she was sure her friends would understand. They always did.

"InuYasha went for a walk," Sango answered.

"Yeah," said Shippo, "he was a little frustrated about the fight you guys just had."

Kagome closed her eyes and calmly sat Shippo down before taking off after her half-demon friend.

"Do you think InuYasha will listen to Kagome?" Shippo asked.

"Let's just hope that it doesn't turn into another argument," Miroku replied.

Kagome ran as fast as she could through the village and away from it. She wasn't going to stop until she found InuYasha.

Kagome knew that a lot of the time when the boy was depressed and liked some time to think, he would go to a big hill where you could get a good view of a small field and the village.

It's the first place the girl decided to look, and when she found the hill and climbed it, soon enough she found InuYasha, his back facing her and his silver white hair blowing in the wind as he looked out to the world.

Kagome was relieved to find him and deeply sighed. "InuYasha." Her voice wasn't loud, but loud enough for the half-demon to hear, and he slowly turned his head to her.

Kagome's heart sunk when she saw the look on his face. He seemed a little depressed and exhausted. Plus, when he turned around like that, Kagome thought she saw something like this in a dream she wasn't comfortable with.

But this wasn't a dream, and she sighed before walking over to him. She stepped when she was a footway from the boy and looked into his amber eyes. They looked serous, but calm. "InuYasha, I'm sorry…about our fight I mean."

InuYasha quickly turned his head back. "It's alright. It was my fault."

Kagome was shocked to hear those words come out of the boy's mouth. InuYasha never really took the blame for their arguments.

Five seconds passed and the half-demon curiously looked at Kagome again, and after the girl shook her head with a smile, she pointed a head. "Look!"

InuYasha looked back and saw that the field was covered with butterflies galore. He hadn't remembered seeing them before.

"I've never seen so many butterflies," the girl said. The two stood there for a few seconds staring out at the field when some of the butterflies flew up a bit from the flowers they were perched on to. That's when Kagome suddenly felt like doing something exciting as she smiled brightly and grabbed InuYasha's hand. "Come on!" She ran the blushing boy down the hill as she laughed excitedly in the bright sun.

When they got down to the field, Kagome immediately started for the butterflies like a little girl and messed around to make them fly up. It was almost like popping bubbles, put instead they were beautiful insects flying all over the place.

As Kagome laughed and played with the flying bugs, InuYasha stood there and watched them. The butterflies were everywhere of all kinds of colors. Most of them were purple and blue, and when Kagome put her hands on the tips of the flowers, more of them kept flying up all over the place.

InuYasha watched them all until one landed and perched itself on his dog-ear, and the boy froze for a second. Kagome saw that and giggled. When InuYasha's ear twitched, the butterfly finally flew away and InuYasha looked up and watched it leave in the air.

Kagome leaned down to pick up a flower and stood back up. "InuYasha, look," she said in amazement as she held the flower up to him. The half-demon looked at it; there on top was a silver colored butterfly. It was so unusual and so pretty that InuYasha stared at it wide-eyed in amazement with his mouth half open.

Kagome smiled brightly as she held it. All her worried thoughts just suddenly disappeared and she felt very happy. Both of them felt good and decided to eat lunch alone together near a lake.

Kagome grabbed her empty water bottle and happily jumped in the shallow end of the lake to fill it up when she heard a growl. The girl turned her head toward InuYasha, who was right next to her, wet from her splash. "Oh InuYasha, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it!"

He was briefly glaring at her and remained quiet.

"InuYasha?"

A smirk finally grew on the half-demon's face that made Kagome gasp and lean back a bit to get away, but it was too late when InuYasha finally splashed her.

The girl happily screamed while covering her face and finally fell on her bottom as she started laughing.

Shippo rested on the edge of a boulder and smiled with his hands on his cheeks as he watched Kagome happily splash the half-demon back. The kid was glad to see that the two weren't arguing anymore, and instead were actually getting along and having fun. It made Shippo very happy to see them like this.

As it started to get dark, InuYasha ran through the field happily with Kagome on his back. The girl felt the cool breeze blow in her face and had never felt so happy in her life. Before she knew it, she happily rested her head on the boy's back as he continued running and smiled back at her over his shoulder.

That night when all the bright stars were out, Kagome and InuYasha both lay on the field grown with their heads next to each other and their bodies opposite from each other. They stared at the stars and talked about simple subjects.

"So did you ever watch the stars before in the past?" Kagome softly asked.

"Yeah, a few times," he casually answered, his eyes still up at the sky.

"Really? Have you done it with somebody else?"

He didn't answer until five seconds passed. "Yeah, I did."

"Who?"

"My mother." Kagome felt a little awkward for some reason and sat up to look at him. "Oh InuYasha."

He sat up also and looked at her curiously. "What?"

She smiled sweetly at him and shook her head. "Never mind."

Again, InuYasha was getting use to that and lay back down to look at the stars again with his arms folded behind his head.

Kagome was still sitting up but looked back up the sky also. "The stars are so beautiful. Those butterflies were beautiful, too."

The boy said nothing and continued to watch the stars.

"And the flowers they were on."

"Flowers," InuYasha finally replied.

Kagome curiously looked at him and figured out what he was getting at. "Yeah, even IraKouba's flowers can be pretty."

"Yeah, and you can never know what they would do."

Kagome sighed and looked to the ground. "InuYasha, IraKouba needs to be destroyed." She looked back at him and finally saw his eyes on her. He was ready to listen. "And we can work together to defeat him. All of us. I know we can do it, InuYasha. We can do it together."

The boy looked at the ground and was silent as Kagome watched him think, waiting for a reply. Finally he spoke. "I guess you're right."

She softly gasped and smiled. "You mean it? So we're all going tomorrow to look for IraKouba."

He sighed but nodded. "Alright."

"You promise?"

He growled annoyingly, sick of all the questions. "Yes."

Now Kagome didn't know what could make this day better. She looked back at the stars. "I think supper is about ready. What do you think?" She looked at InuYasha and grew confused when she saw the look on his face. He was sniffing the air with a serious look on his face and immediately stood up.

"InuYasha, what's the matter?"

He still said nothing as Kagome stood beside him.

"InuYasha?" that's when she saw the familiar snake like demons fly around them. "Soul collectors," she whispered. And then they both saw Kikyo standing thirty feet away from them. Kagome's heart started to pound when she saw the priestess staring at them; staring at InuYasha.

InuYasha was staring at her, too, and there was sadness in the priestess' eyes. They were completely different from the last time he saw her. The last time she gave a straight face and ignored him. This time she seemed serious, like she was trying to say something.

InuYasha's face was full of sadness and curiosity. Sadness because of how things were from the last time he saw her, and curiosity because things seemed different now.

Kagome's face was also full of emotion. She herself wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel, but she wasn't surprised and felt a little sad for the two.

The wind blew in Kikyo's face and her long black hair back when her sad face started to calm down and suddenly looked serious, although InuYasha's remained the same.

Kagome and InuYasha then watched Kikyo slowly turn to the left and slowly started to walk off. But she looked back at InuYasha, giving him a look as if she were telling him to come with her.

Kagome knew that InuYasha wanted to come with her. He wanted to talk to her and the 15 year old couldn't blame him for feeling that way, although her heart was still going crazy. "She wants to see you," she said to the half-demon softly.

"Huh?" he said as he turned to her curiously.

"Kikyo. She wants to talk to you. Go to her."

"Yeah," he breathed with a nod and ran after the priestess.

Kagome stood there, her heart pounding and her stomach tingling as she watched the boy leave. Then she turned around and headed back to the village. She walked for a while, but slowly. _I should have known this would happen. I should have known that Kikyo would come back for him. I just thought…after what she did to him….but….I guess she still loves him. And…_

She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and stopped dead in her tracks. _…He still loves her. But I thought InuYasha and I were…. we were having fun….but…_ Now the tears slowly started to fall down her cheeks. _Then Kikyo had to come back._ And with all those thoughts, Kagome, with ought even thinking, let out a loud scream.

"You look well," Kikyo said to the boy in the dark field.

"Huh? Yeah." He still felt awkward about what happened between them before, but he still remained calm. "And…how are you?"

"Me?" She let out a sad chuckle. "Any other girl would feel better than I am."

InuYasha was sure she said that because when he first met her, she wasn't whom she wanted to be and even though she stood here now, she was still dead. "Well, I mean…since the way you didn't…talk to me the other day."

The priestess' eyes turned back to sadness. "Oh InuYasha, I was just so distracted. I know deep down in my soul," she stepped close to the boy, "I would never want to hurt you on purpose. Except for…what I did to you 50 years ago." She put her cold hand on InuYasha's chest and had a face full of regret. She could feel the boy's heart beating, unlike hers.

"No Kikyo, don't worry about that. I mean…we both know that it wasn't our intention to do something bad to each other." InuYasha remembered that 50 years ago somebody had torn them apart, and tricked them into trying to kill each other.

It was silent for ten whole seconds when Kikyo spoke. "InuYasha, IraKouba is really strong…"

"Huh?" the boy had his full attention on her and was curious. "You know about IraKouba?"

"Yes. And I know that he's trying to kill you."

"Yeah." He looked to the ground. "It seems he wants to kill me, Kagome, and the others to get the jewel shards.

But the priestess shook her head. "You don't understand. He wants to kill only you because he's after me."

"You?" He didn't quite understand what was going on, so he remained silent to listen to the rest of her theory.

"Yes. I have confronted him before, and he seemed to be fond of me. Probably loved me."

InuYasha was quiet. _IraKouba loves Kikyo?_ "So that's why he's after me. Because-"

"He knows that we once were in-"

InuYasha didn't let her continue. "And he wants to destroy me to get revenge." He felt like this had happened before. He knew this had happened before, but he ignored that subject. "Kikyo, I will destroy IraKouba. This is something that only I have to do. I don't want you or anyone else to get involved. Let me handle it."

Kikyo actually let out a small smile and embraced the half-demon. "I have faith in you."

InuYasha slowly hugged her back, but only for a second and broke away. "I don't want you to worry. Just leave it to me."

When Kagome got back to Kaede's hut, her friends were outside and all looked at her curiously, starting to ask her questions about where InuYasha was.

She only gave her sad look, a sign that was clear to them, picked up her bag, and walked away.

InuYasha and Kikyo said their goodbyes, and after Kikyo wished him luck, the half-demon slowly walked back. He noticed Kagome wasn't in their current spot anymore, and decided she must have headed back to the village to eat supper with the others. Although he had a weird feeling about something and gulped as he walked back.

Kagome sighed before putting her back- pack over her shoulder and immediately jumped down the well to go back to her own time.

**Hope you liked this chapter. Just to let you know, the part where Kagome apologizes to InuYasha and they do all that fun stuff together, I imagined it while listenening to Rose's theme from the Titanic soundtrack. And the part where inuyaha and kikyo were staring at each other and kagome was sad, I was listening to Sadness and Sorrow from Naruto.**

** Ok please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When InuYasha finally got back to Kaede's hug and saw everyone outside talking, except for Kagome. He grew curious as he stood in place when everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

The looks they gave InuYasha made him nervous." Where's Kagome?" he eagerly asked.

"She went home," Sango answered softly as Miroku nodded.

InuYasha wanted to ask why, but he was afraid he had a feeling what was going on. The boy finally saw Miroku walk up to him. "InuYasha, did you see Kikyo?" he asked.

After five seconds he softly answered, "Yeah."

"I knew it!" Shippo exclaimed. "And you made Kagome upset!"

InuYaha surprisingly didn't hit the child. "Look, we just talked. Kikyo knows about IraKouba."

"She does?" Sango said.

"Is this true, InuYasha?" Kaede curiously asked as she walked over to him.

"Yes," he answered, "Kikyo and him knew each other. She thinks that he was attracted to her and now wants to destroy me to get back at her for not going with him."

"You mean it has nothing to do with the jewel shards?" Shippo asked.

"NO. It has _nothing_ to do with the jewel shards. It has to do with me. Which is why I have to do this alone."

"Don't even go there!" Miroku exclaimed, finally getting sick of the stubborn half-demon. "You obviously don't even stop to think that when you're in trouble your friends are ready to back you up. IraKouba is stronger than you and you know it!"

InuYasha rolled his eyes and turned his head to the left. "Shut up!"

As Miroku, Sango, and Kaede continued to argue with InuYasha, Shippo nervously put his hands on to his head and closed his eyes. _Kagome, please come back. We need you._

Kagome lay completely still on her bed staring at the ceiling. She felt, sad, lost, and confused all at once. She didn't understand InuYasha, and what he was thinking. To her it was like he couldn't make up his mind on which he cared for more. It was like a rolar coaster to her. He loved Kikyo, than forgot about her and seemed to have something special for Kagome. Then it was Kikyo again.

The girl sat up and headed for her dresser and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She could see herself obviously, and then she could see Kikyo. It depressed her and she moved back a bit. Who would InuYasha choose? And didn't InuYasha see the difference between Kagome and Kikyo?

The 15 year old then looked back into the mirror and could see InuYasha's straight face. She put her hand up to the glass, and when the half-demon's face disappeared, Kagome looked sat back down on the edge of her bed and looked out the window. There were those beautiful stars. Those stars that she and InuYasha watched together not too long ago. She remembered being near him, looking at the sky, and having a nice conversation.

Kagome remembered that possibly she fell asleep with him after InuYasha faced IraKouba for the first time. And she remembered when InuYasha got terribly hurt; she comforted him, and held him in her lap. She wondered if Kikyo was ever like that. She wondered if InuYasha once got really hurt and the priestess held him and stayed by his side. And if he ever had fun with Kikyo like Kagome did. She started to think of when she took InuYasha's hand and ran down to the butterfly field. And she remembered having the time of her life. Then she remembered laughing when she had a splash fight with the boy, and felt so alive when he ran her in the wind.

Everything that had happened to her, Kagome felt she couldn't be any happier, because things were perfect until Kikyo came. Then Kagome had to let InuYasha go off with her.

That thought made Kagome burst into tears and started to sob uncontrollably as she still sat on the edge of her bed. _InuYasha!_ The tears kept falling down her cheeks like waterfalls and she put her hands up to her face to stop them. But it didn't help. _I…I love you._ There was nothing else the girl could think of. Those three familiar words were all that could appear in her mind. That, and InuYasha.

Kagome wasn't sure what she would do. InuYasha still loved Kikyo, but even though it hurt her so much, deep down she knew that she had to be with him still. But that only made her cry even more.

Without Kagome realizing it, her little brother stood by her door way and watched her sit on the bed crying her eyes out. He had seen Kagome cry before, but not like this. It was different, and it made the boy concerned. He knew that Kagome wouldn't let him in on the subject, so he walked away.

After a few minutes, Kagome's cheeks were still wet, but no more tears fel anymore and she stared at the floor when her mother came in. "Kagome?"

She quickly turned her head and gasped. "Mom." Instead of having an argument with her like she did with Sota, Kagome stared at her mother sadly and just let her walk closer and sit down on the bed next to her.

"Oh Kagome, everything's ok."

Kagome didn't say anything, but she wasn't so sure that what her mother just told her was true.

"Kagome, I've told you once before that you're becoming a woman. You know I'm very proud of the way you turned out. You're really growing up, and starting to have different desires and passions."

Kagome looked at her, tears starting to fall again as she felt her mother's arm on her shoulders.

"You're a beautiful young lady. You're strong, smart, caring, brave, and anybody who knows you would be dumb enough not to see that in you; and that they're blind to realize it."

Kagome looked to the ground and grew curious. _Is mom saying that InuYasha is blind? Its almost like she knows what I'm thinking and how I feel. How I feel about InuYasha._ Her mom was telling her that InuYasha wasn't seeing what he needed to see. Or maybe she and him were never meant to be. That thought made her stomach tingle. "Mom, what should I do?" she finally asked softly. "I'm so confused….more than ever. I don't understand. What should I do?" She had never asked her mom that question so much in one time. Sure, she had felt hurt and rejected when it came to InuYasha and Kikyo. But Kagome had known InuYasha for almost a year now. Things were bound to change.

"Just follow your heart. And then you'll do what you should do. I know you'll do the right thing, because you are a strong woman, and you always mange to set things right."

Kagome wasn't sure those words would solve her problem, but it did made her feel better. She smiled before saying "Thanks mom."

It was quiet and Kagome felt herself brieftly flying in an unknown place. The area was bright orange and pink, and the girl flew toward nowhere. She saw the familiar half-demon appear ahead with a straight face. "I'm not gonna let you," he said, his voice echoing, "I'm not gonna let you, Kagome."

The girl curiously flew closer to him, realizing she had heard him say those words before. "You're not gonna let me do what? What do you mean?" As she asked that, her voice normal with no echo, she flew even closer.

"Kagome, stay safe. Just leave everything to me. Stay safe."

Kagome was finally inches away from the boy. "But InuYasha, I'm always safe as long as you're with me. I thought you knew that." The girl finally slowly wrapped her arms around the half-demon's waist, and hugged him deeply with her eyes closed. "I thought you knew that."

InuYasha remained still. "It's too dangerous, Kagome. Stay safe."

Kagome's eyes didn't open. "But you'll protect me. You always do. I'm safe with you. You know that, right?" Her eyes finally opened and she broke the hug as she looked into the boy's serious eyes. "Right? InuYasha, you do know that, right?" She suddenly realized that InuYasha was gone. "InuYasha? InuYasha!"

Kagome finally woke up in her bed the next morning. She was really starting to get irritated with all these dreams she was having, and even more, scared. Then she was wondering either the dreams were telling her that InuYasha was leaving to fight, or leaving and never returning to her.

The girl shook those thoughts away. _No._ _He promised he wouldn't go alone. And he always protects me and would never leave me. That dream means nothing._

After looking at the clock to see it was 8:00 am, Kagome decided to go back to the feudal era. So she got up to get dressed. After packing, Kagome headed downstairs to her family's greetings. She smiled and grabbed a banana to eat. "I'm going back now," she told them.

Her mother smiled at her. "Good luck, dear. And stay safe."

Kagome's stomach tingled when she heard "stay safe', but shook her head and smiled. "Okay."

"Hey Kagome," Sota started, stopping his sister before she could leave. He leaned up closer to her and spoke very softly so nobody but his sister could hear. "Make things right with InuYasha, ok?"

Kagome couldn't believe it. Again, it wasn't natural for her brother to get into her life and act sensitive about it. And when the girl saw that smile on Sota's face, she figured that some how he knew she was in pain because of InuYasha, and had told their mother all about it. That's why she came in to talk with her last night. Kagome wasn't sure she was angry with him or thankful. But that didn't matter to her at the moment, and she nodded before heading out of the house.

The girl ran toward the shrine and in it, and quickly jumped down the well started to travel through time and space. _InuYasha, I wanna be with you…no matter what._

It was day light by the time Kagome climbed out of the well in the feudal time, and ran toward the village.

"You guys! I'm back!" she called once she arrived at Kaede's hut. "InuYasha? You guys?"

"Kagome?" Shippo softly said as he slowly walked out of the hut while rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Shippo."

The fox-demon deeply yawned and looked up at the girl. "Kagome, you're back."

"Yeah. You're just now waking up?"

"InuYasha and the others had a big argument last night and we got to sleep pretty late."

"An argument?"

"Kagome!" Sango said as she and Miroku stepped outside the hut as well with curious looks on t heir faces.

"Kagome, welcome back," said Miroku.

"InuYasha's not with you?" Sango asked Kagome.

"What?" she replied. "No, I haven't seen him since last night. He isn't here?" She started to grow nervous.

"He was gone when we woke up."

"We figured he went out to get you," said Miroku.

Kagome was silent for a few seconds, wondering what was going on. "He didn't. I didn't see him at all. What were you guys arguing about last night?"

"We were arguing about weather InuYasha should go alone to find IraKouba or not," Shippo nervous answered. "We tried to convince him not to go alone, but he just argued back. Then he decided we all go to sleep."

Kagome's heart started to pound like crazy. InuYasha wanted to fight IraKouba alone, but did it really mean he would actually do it?

"Oh no," said Sango, "he must have suggested going to sleep so he could go without us knowing."

"What!" Kagome exclaimed and immediately turned around and ran off. "But he promised!"

"Kagome, wait! We'll come with you!"

"No, I wanna go alone!"

"Oh no, what's gonna happen?" Shippo nervously asked.

"Miroku," Sango started, not answering Shippo's question, "if InuYasha left last night, than he could have gotten pretty far."

"Unless he stopped for a break."

"That's not all," said Miroku, "InuYasha has a great sense of smell. But Kagome has no idea where to head off to."

Shippo started to grow scared and angry. _InuYasha, you're so stubborn._

Kagome ran through the village to find old Kaede. There was nothing stopping the girl from saving InuYasha, and she had to get as much information as possible

When she finally spotted the old priestess, Kagome started to call for her until she finally got to her.

"Kagome, ye are back."

The 15 year old was trying to catch her breath and then gave Kaede a concerned look.

"What is the trouble, child?"

"You have to help me! Where do you think IraKouba would live?"

"IraKouba?"

"Yes, the plant demon. I need to go there as soon as possible."

"By ye self?"

"InuYasha went after him by himself while everyone else was asleep. I need to stop him, or he'll get terribly hurt!"

Kaede was just as shocked as Kagome was. _I should have known he would scheme something like this._ Kaede, though, was just as concerned, and she didn't want Kagome to risk her life.

"Please Kaede, I have to do this!"

Kaede finally nodded, understanding how much this meant to the young girl, and started to explain. "Plant demons that are very smart and have great power are originally found from another land."

"Is it from a different country?"

She nodded. "Tis possible. But since IraKouba and his minions had attacked so many times very soon, it's very possible that he could only be somewhere in the middle of the ocean."

Kagome nodded, understanding every word the old priestess was telling her, and wasn't afraid to risk herself to travel so far. She then started around Kaede and ran for it.

"Kagome! InuYasha could have gotten far already!"

"I don't care! I already made it clear to him that I don't want him doing this alone!"

Kaede suddenly realized she forgot to tell Kagome the real reason why IraKouba was attacking, but it was already too late to catch up to her.

For a whole hour, Kagome didn't even stop once to catch her breath. The girl knew that InuYasha's sense of small was far too much for her to compete with. But she also knew that she herself was smart enough and if she were even close to an evil aura, she would sense it.

Kagome's luck started then, when she spotted a big flower on the ground that looked a lot like the ones she saw before. InuYasha would realize that, too, and he was bound to come this way. She ran further.

Kagome knew that IraKouba had to be defeated as soon as possible. But soon as possible was too much for the girl if it meant InuYasha going alone and risking his life.

Kagome ran for hours, and sometimes had a hard time figuring out which way the half-demon went. Although when she spotted a few more evil flowers on the way, she knew she was getting closer.

Eventually Kagome came to a forest and stopped for a second, just to think if she was heading the right way or not. She could have been going the wrong way, but there was also a big change that she was going in the right direction. So she started through the forest.

Kagome walked through the forest for a few minutes, unsure where she was doing and finally stopped where a large row of bamboo tress stood. Behind them she could see a bunch of tall grass. Now Kagome wasn't sure she was going the right way, until she looked to her right and saw another evil plant.

The girl then was curious and started to her left and slowly peaked behind the bamboo trees as she walked, wondering if there was any more flowers ahead. So far she couldn't find anymore, but her heart started pounding when she found that one spot of the tall grass was gone, and it looked like it continued to look like that further forward.

One idea came to Kagome's mind, and that was an after sign of InuYasha's Wind Scar technique from his sword. The reason he did that didn't matter to the girl. She just knew he came this way and immediately started her way through the bamboo tress. After getting around the tough braches, Kagome looked ahead of her. The open space track in the grass seemed to go on forever, and the girl finally ran ahead.

Again, Kagome wouldn't stop to catch her breath as she ran through the tall grass. After ten minutes of running, there was no more tall grass, but the girl still didn't stop. Seeing a sign from her half-demon friend was enough for her not to doubt where she was running, even if she never did spot anymore evil plants.

The forest was a big one, and Kagome wondered if it would ever end. But she didn't stop to doubt and ran through the forest, skipped across the creeks, and jumped over any logs she came across to.

Eventually Kagome stopped when she had nowhere else to run. There were big boulders in front of her that lead to a further walkway. Knowing InuYasha, he would probably jump over them and kept on going.

Since eight feet was too big for Kagome to jump over, she started to climb the boulders. She was pretty much in fit, so it only took a couple minutes to reach the top.

Kagome continued running for another ten minutes and could see the end of the forest up ahead. She ran faster, and when she finally got out of the forest, she stopped.

The girl could hear the sound of waves, and saw that there was a cliff ten feet ahead. Kagome then, knew that she and the others had been here before days ago. It's where they met one of IraKouba's plant minions for the first time.

Kagome gulped before slowly walking toward the cliff in the wind. When she got to the edge, she looked down to see water; obviously the ocean. Anyone this close would be able to smell that saltiness and sand. InuYasha, she figured, probably smelled it way before he got here.

Kagome then looked beyond the water, which never seemed to end. She was nervous. If InuYasha had came this way, which she was sure he did, he probably already crossed. He either took a boat, or with his supernatural speed, ran on top the water. But Kagome couldn't do that. There were no boats near, and there was no way she could swim all that way.

The girl fought back the tears and sat down on her bottom and legs. As the waves brushed against the wall, Kagome continued to stare out to the sea. She stared until she could see something far ahead. An island, maybe.

Kagome felt scared, sad, and angry all at once. _InuYasha…_

Far beyond the water, InuYasha had just arrived on the different land he had searched for. He was about to run forward when he sensed something. He felt like Kagome was behind him, but she wasn't there with him. The boy curiously turned around and looked out to the ocean. His vision was great, and he could almost spot Kagome watching him. His ears lowered and his heart started to pound. _Goodbye Kagome._ He then immediately headed further on the island.

Kagome felt so scared and hurt, she didn't feel like moving. She didn't know what to do, except sulk. _You promised. You promised you wouldn't._

Ok hope you like this chapter! Just to let you guys know, I listened to 'My Heart Will Go On' from Titanic when I imagined the part with Kagome in her room, thinking about her and InuYasha. And also listened to Journey Away from the Whale Rider soundtrack when I imagined the part when Kagome was traveling through the forest. And the part where she was sitting and looking at the sea, feeling sad, and InuYasha on the island, I listened to Empty Water from the Whale Rider soundtrack. Ok, please review!


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey sorry for the long update. I've been really busy with a lot of things. Anyways, I decided that I want to get this story done by Halloween because my friends are coming over and I want them to see this story. Ok heres chapter 12!**

Chapter 12

"That stupid InuYasha!" Shippo exclaimed angrily as he sat in front of Kaede's hut along with Miroku, Sango, and Kirala. "How could he just run off like some stubborn dog without our help? Doesn't he know how dangerous IraKouba is?"

"He knows its dangerous, Shippo," Sango answered, "He just depends on himself too much and will risk his life."

Miroku sighed as he used his chopsticks to play with his dinner as he closed his eyes. "Just as stubborn as usual."

"But why won't he depend on us?" Shippo asked. "We're strong too."

"Either his ego is too big or he's scared stuff that we all get hurt. He probably doesn't think we're strong enough to help."

"But we _are_ strong! Sango's a great demon slayer. And you're a skilled monk, Miroku. Kirala is very powerful, and my fox magic helps, too."

"There is one thing you're not mentioning," Sango said and finally had everyone's attention on her. "InuYasha knows that its him IraKouba wants to destroy. More than anything, in his mind its his duty that only he should face him."

"And he also wants t o protect Kikyo," Miroku added.

Shippo started to grow angry at that thought, knowing that Kikyo didn't matter that much. Especially since she was already dead. "What about Kagome? Do you think she's found InuYasha?"

"She's been gone all day, Miroku," Sango said worriedly, "don't you think we should go after her?"

"You don't need to," a small voice said.

Everyone turned ahead of them and saw Kagome coming their way. "Kagome!"

She looked exhausted, and her face was full of sadness as she slowly walked toward her friends.

"Kagome, are you alright?" Sango asked. "What happened?"

"Did you find InuYasha?" Shippo asked.

Kagome fought back the tears and spoke in a weak voice. "I know where he went. But it was too late. He already crossed the sea."

Everyone gasped. "You mean InuYasha found the other land?" Shippo asked. "Talk about canine instincts."

"Kagome," Sango said as she cam closer to her friend. "You found it? You found where IraKaouba lives?"

"Hm," Kagome answered with a nod.

"Kagome," Miroku started, "are you saying that you can remember how to get there?"

The 15 year old was silent for a few seconds and still looked depressed, but finally nodded. "Mm-hm."

"Alright." The monk stood and gave a determined look ahead of him and back to the others. Tonight we're getting a good night sleep. Tomorrow we leave right away. We're gonna help InuYasha with this battle weather he likes it or not."

When everyone went to bed that night, Kagome lay on her belly in her sleeping bag wide-awake. It was hard for her to even think about sleep, knowing that InuYasha wasn't with her. But she knew she had to get as much rest as possible so she could have the energy to help her half-demon friend fight this strong, evil monster. "InuYasha, just please…please be alright. Try…try not to fight…not until I get there." And with that thought, the girl finally drifted off to sleep.

Kagome opened her eyes when she felt something wet and sticky all over her. She noticed then that she was in some sort of pit, and the stuff went all the way up to her shoulders. Whatever it was she was in looked like a dark red.

The girl struggled to move as she tried to climb out of the pit. She felt scared and wished someone would save her. That's when she noticed that the unusual tar trailed off further ahead, and she decided to try to go that way to find some way out.

Swimming was impossible because the sticky stuff was too thick for the girl. So she walked her way through. As she moved, Kagome looked around herself to see the environment. It seemed deserted, and it was very mysterious and misty.

Soon enough, the further Kagome walked, the shallower the pit was for her. When it the tar was only up to her ankles now, the girl saw flies all over the place as if they found a dead body.

Kagome's heart skipped a beat when she realized that was she was standing in was blood. The girl walked further until her feet were on top of the blood, which went even further ahead; only it was getting smaller shaped.

She started to run and soon saw a figure on the ground and gasped when she saw silver-white hair. "InuYasha!"

Kagome finally stopped and dropped in front of her friend, who was lying lifelessly on his back with blood all over him. The girl, though, did see that he was still breathing. "InuYasha!"

"K…Kagome," he weakly let out and looked into the girl's brown eyes. "I…lost."

"NOO!" Her voice echoed through the air.

The 15 year old gasped as she suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. She sat up and looked around herself. Only Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kirala, and Kaede were there. InuYasha was nowhere to be seen. "InuYasha," Kagome whispered worriedly.

She was relieved the terrible image was only a dream, but InuYasha was still gone, off to face IraKouba. The girl looked out the window and with a sigh, stood up and left the hut.

Kagome walked for a bit toward the woods, hoping to get all the stress and worries out of her mind. _InuYasha could be fighting right now, not even daring to think._

_"Kagome, I won't let you."_

The girl stopped dead in her tracks. _He won't let me…he won't let me help him. How stupid does he think I am? Wouldn't he know that I wouldn't listen! That no matter how dangerous it is, I won't give in, and I would fight by his side?_

She was already 30 feet into the woods, and wouldn't move for a few minutes until she heard a sound from ahead. She gasped and her heart pounded so hard she could hear it herself. The girl stared straight ahead, and remained still. "I…Inu..Yasha?"

A figure slowly walked Kagome's way, and it took a few seconds for her to realize that it was Kikyo. "Kikyo," she let out and curiously watched the priestess come closer.

"InuYasha; he left, didn't he?" Kikyo said when she stopped five feet in front of the girl.

"Huh?" _What's Kikyo doing here? And how...? _"How...did you know?" Kagome was stunned.

"He left to do it alone, didn't he."

It became silent as the two stood and stared at each other. _Did InuYasha tell her?_ "Kikyo, how do you know what's going on?"

"IraKouba has a lot on his mind."

"You know IraKouba?"

Kikyo turned her head to the left as Kagome waited for an answer. "IraKouba wanted me, but I didn't want him. And he knew about InuYasha."

It was silent again, and Kagome stared at the priestess curiously, trying to find something else to say. She was starting to get the hint that IraKouba knew that InuYasha and Kikyo had once fallen in love. "So, he's angry with you?"

The priestess turned back to Kagome. "He wants to destroy InuYasha to get back at me. And knowing someone with those feelings and rage, he won't stop until InuYasha is killed."

"Oh no. InuYasha! He's gonna get killed! Doesn't he know that?"

A few seconds had passed and Kikyo finally spoke. "He wants to do this on his own. Typically, its very important to him."

Kagome looked to the ground, feeling worried, but also angry, knowing that it was typical for the half-demon to act like this.

"But he can't," Kikyo continued.

"Huh?" The girl looked back at the priestess.

"IraKouba is too strong. And even though InuYasha is strong as well, he can't fight well unless you are by his side."

"Huh? Me? But this is about _you_. He loves you, Kikyo. He's trying to protect you."

"Its already clear that he fights well when you are there. It's important that you go fight with him. "It's the only way IraKouba can be defeated.

Kagome didn't know what to say, and she was s hocked to be hearing all of this from Kikyo. She knew Kikyo loved InuYasha. And to hear those words; that InuYasha was fond of her, and cared for her, and needed her there to fight; it made her spirit go up. And after t thinking about it, she knew Kikyo was right. InuYasha became stronger when he had Kagome to protect. He just needed to get that through his mind that he needed her by his side.

The girl finally gave a determined look and nodded. "I'll do it. I'll leave right now." And she ran back toward the hut, leaving Kikyo in the dark woods.

Kagome quickly but silently grabbed her clothes out of the hut and changed outside. Then she got her bag full of first aid stuff, and took her bow and arrows, and left the hut.

Without any second thoughts, the girl started to leave when she heard a soft voice let out her name. She stopped and turned around to see Shippo standing there looking at her. "Shippo."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Shippo, I have to go to InuYasha."

"Now!"

"Shh…yes."

"Without even telling us? Just like InuYasha did!"

"Shippo," Kagome sighed as she leaned down to the boy's level and looked into his worried eyes. "It's important that I go now and help him."

"No! I won't let you go."

"I have to, Shippo."

"Then I'm coming with you."

She shook her head. "You can't. It's too late and dangerous. You wait here with the others until the morning."

"But Kagome-"

The 15 year old finally put her hand on Shippo's head. "It'll be ok. I promise." She stood up then, and s started walking away.

Shippo didn't know what to do. He didn't want Kagome to go alone, so he stood there, trying to think of a good reason for him to come. Finally, an idea popped in his head. "How will you get across the sea?"

Kagome finally stopped, and slowly turned her head toward him.

"You need someone to fly you across." The fox demon gave a clever grin. "And that's where I come in."

Kagome knew he was right, and it seemed that the child looked brave and determined to do it. She couldn't let it go, and smiled. "Come on, Shippo."

His smile grew, and he quickly ran up and jumped onto Kagome's shoulder.

Just like before, Kagome ran her fastest as Shippo kept telling her to hurry. He seemed ready, as if he was going to face IraKouba in combat himself.

After a while, even though Shippo fell asleep, Kagome still ran with the child in her arms and didn't even stop to rest. It was important that she would get to InuYasha as soon as possible.

The sun started to rise when Kagome got to the forest, and she finally decided to stop and rest. She sat against a tree trunk with Shippo sleeping soundly on her lap. Kagome didn't want to stop for anything, but she did get pretty far, and decided to let Shippo rest in peace, and let herself drift off to sleep as well.

**Ok so there's 3 more chapters to go. I'm not rushing this, trust me. I want this to be a good story, but I know I can get it done in less than three weeks if I just stick to it. Please review! **


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

InuYasha sat against a tree trunk as he woke up and felt dizzy and nauseous. Then he blinked a few times to come to his senses. _That's right. When I entered this forest, some poisonous gas knocked me out._ The boy gave a deep sigh as he forced himself on his feet.

It was already daylight, and InuYasha didn't attend to wait around. He had planned to face IraKouba right away, but that didn't work out. So he immediately ran ahead through the forest. _Kagome, I won't stop. Not until I bring IraKouba down. Even if it costs me my life._

After a few minutes of tracking, InuYasha finally stopped in an empty space and sniffed the air. A terrible stench went up his nose as he glared. "I smell him. He's here. I know he is."

The half-demon stood still, prepared for any attacks as he stared up ahead, expecting his enemy to come out from behind the trees. He could sense that IraKouba was very close.

That's when the half-demon heard a loud noise from behind, and turned to see a giant plant coming toward him. He flipped backwards out of the way before the demon could touch him. Once InuYasha landed, he stood and gave a glare at the monster. "So, I'm taking you're another one of IraKouba's minions!"

With a deep monstrous voice, the demon chuckled. "Clever, but not strong enough." The plant looked a lot like the first one InuYasha and his friends encountered, and it looked like it hungered for a fight.

"I don't have time for you," the boy said impatiently, "I'm here for your monster. It's him I want. So step aside so I can face the plant lord!"

"Not without a fight." The demon attacked again, completely missing InuYasha once more as he dodged out of the way.

The clouds became dark and there was a small flash of lightening and a sound of thunder. "Shippo," Kagome said as she shook the sleeping boy. "Shippo, wake up."

The fox moaned before sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Kagome? Huh?" He looked around himself to see that they were no longer in the forest and near the ocean. "We're…we're out of the forest already?"

"Yes. I ran us out while you were asleep, and let you have a little more rest. But we have to hurry across the sea. A storm is about to start, and we shouldn't be up so high during it."

Shippo immediately stood up and ran to the edge of the cliff to look down at the water. Then he looked ahead, hoping it wasn't too far. He was getting better with his fox magic, but it was still tough for a little kid like him to last in transformation for a long time. Still, he felt confident and took a deep breath as Kagome stood next to him. "Ok, I can do this."

"Don't worry, it shouldn't be too far, judging by how quick the plants have been arriving in the village day by day."

"Y..Yeah, but they're pretty fast."

Kagome didn't let him know she agreed, not wanting to worry the child and break his confidence. She was a little nervous herself, but wanting to get to InuYasha gave her a reason not to give up. "Alright Shippo, are you ready?"

The boy took a deep breath as he pulled out a magic leaf to help him. "Ok, I'm ready." He put the leaf on his head and transformed into a big, pink floating balloon.

After Kagome climbed on top, Shippo immediately flew forward, as Kagome looked back to see that they were already two feet away. Shippo had improved his speed, and the girl knew they had a change of getting to the island in less than an hour. Although another flash of lighting worried her.

Kirala was the first of the remaining group to wake up, and noticed Kagome and Shippo were gone as she stood on her feet and meowed.

"What's the matter, Kirala?" Sango asked as she sat up and looked at her cat demon, who was staring a head. The girls gasped when she also noticed her friends were gone. "Huh? Where's Kagome…and Shippo?" The demon slayer quietly stood up and ran out the hut.

With Kirala standing in front of her, Sango stopped outside, not seeing Kagome or Shippo anywhere. "Kagome! Shippo!"

"Sango?" Miroku asked as he stepped outside the hut. "Where's Kagome and Shippo?"

The demon slayer turned and looked at him worriedly. "They're not hear, Miroku."

Before the monk could reply, he saw old Kaede coming their way and gave her his greeting.

"Ye better get going," she replied.

"Kagome and Shippo aren't here," said Miroku, "have you seen them."

The old priestess shook her head. "Are ye telling me that ye can't find them?"

"Kagome's stuff isn't here either," said Sango when Miroku looked at her and back at Kaede.

"Ye don't think they have gone after InuYasha by themselves, do ye?" Kaede asked.

Miroku looked to the ground. "Kagome was so upset about InuYasha. She probably wanted to get to him as possible and went right ahead."

"Oh no, we have to catch up to them," said Sango.

"Yes, and we have to hurry."

"Kirala!" Sango called the feline who transformed into her bigger size. The two climbed on top and said their goodbyes to Kaede, and flew off.

After several times of dodging the plant demon, InuYasha growled angrily at t hem and unsheathed his Tetsiaga. "Come on, I don't have time for this!" he said as he pulled out his sword and faced his component.

Once it attacked again, InuYasha attacked as well, and shouted as he cut through the demon in half. When the boy landed, he curiously looked at the falling body parts. "Huh? That was surprisingly easy. I guess it was all talk and no action." Before he could put away his sword, another grow was heard, and four more giant monsters appeared.

The half-demon growled annoyingl and attacked some more. He knew that the only way to get to IraKouba was to fight his minions first, even though he didn't care much for them, and wanted to face his real enemy now.

More lighting flashed, followed by thunder while Shippo still flew Kagome across the sea. "Its starting to storm," Shippo said nervously as he flew.

"Keep going Shippo, we're almost there. I can see the land."

Shippo could see it, too, but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold up for very long now, and he feared t hat he and Kagome would get struck by lighting. But he knew he couldn't stop now. The boy continued to fly as he kept his eyes on the island. _InuYasha!_

Kirala flew the monk, who sat behind the demon slayer, and held his staff right in front of her, into the starting storm as the two started to argue about the situation. "We should have gone last night," said Sango, "we should have known Kagome wouldn't want to wait."

"We had to get some rest, and we didn't know she would leave without telling us."

"But Miroku!" Sango was yelling now since the storm was getting too loud for t heir inside voices. "Who knows how far InuYasha could have gotten? What if he already faced IraKouba last night? And Kagome and Shippo! Who knows how far they could have gotten? We should have never waited!"

"It's not just InuYasha, Sango! It's all of us! You would be tired after traveling so long in the night. I wanted you to have the energy! I want you to be safe because I care about you." His voice was soft now, and he closed his eyes before speaking again. "I love you, Sango."

She was speechless, and her cheeks turned pink as she tried to think of something to say. "Miroku.."

The monk said nothing, and neither did the demon slayer.

Shippo and Kagome were only ten feet away from the island now, but were so high up, and the storm was getting worst as Shippo struggled to stay in his transformation. "Kagome, we're gonna get hit!"

"Hang on, we're almost there! Just keep going!"

He did, but he also felt like he was going to transform back into his original self any second. It would be better than being struck by lighting. He looked up at the sky and then toward the island. "Kagome!"

"Come on, Shippo!" Kagome would never want the boy to get killed, but she knew they would make it.

They were only five feet away now, and Kagome knew there was hope. Although after Shippo cried some more, another lighting struck, and was only an inch away from t hem.

Shippo transformed back, and the two were already screaming and falling. After falling into the water, Kagome quickly grabbed Shippo, who kept shouting that that he could swim, and went for the shore.

The girl gasped continuously as she climbed out of the water with Shippo in her arms. "Shippo, are you ok?"

He coughed a couple of times and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You did good, Shippo."

The boy smiled, and even though he felt tired, he felt proud and relieved. Kagome finally ran with him forward into a forest. "We have to find InuYasha," she said.

The half-demon got struck to the ground by one of the plants, but immediately jumped back up and attacked again. Almost being hit, the boy jumped up and landed before the first demon, and sliced it in half with his Tetsiaga.

He glared as he faced the other three, and attacked, ready to cut them as well. Before he could, though, one of the demons hit the sword out of the boy's hands and grabbed both his right leg and arm with its two vines.

InuYasha was lucky that there were no thorns this time. But before he could attack with his claws on his left hand, the second demon grabbed that arm and his other leg and held him in the air.

"Oh man," he said as he tried to break free, but only felt the grip increase. _If only I had my Tetsiaga._ He glanced at the ground to see his rusty sword lying there and grew angry.

InuYasha suddenly felt another vine wrap around his waste, and looked to see it was the third demon. He grunted as he tried to break free, but not even his powers could overcome them. That's when he felt another vine wrap around his neck, and he really knew he was in trouble as he breathed out a curse word.

The boy tried to break free once again, but he still didn't have any luck, and the grip around his throat only grew as he started to gag. He could hear the demons laughing, and shouting out their victory. He could hear thunder, and thought he felt a raindrop fall onto his nose. He could even hear his own bones cracking.

InuYasha started to feel light-headed as the plant squeezed his neck more; and that's when he heard a voice. A voice calling his name. Kagome's voice. _Kagome…_ He could hear the voice getting louder, and now he started to wonder if the girl really was near. _Kagome!_

"InuYasha!"

The boy briefly glanced down to the left, and there Kagome was, standing worriedly with Shippo in her arms.

"K..Kagome…"

"InuYasha! Let him go!"

All three of the demons looked at the girl and chuckled. "What makes you think a mortal girl like you can stop us?"

"K…Kagome," InuYasha managed to say, as the vine around his neck squeezed more, "g….get ou..t…o..f…here. It's…t….t…too dan…gerous." He could barely breath now, but he still had the strength to speak more. "You'll be…k…killed."

"No way," Kagome said bravely with a glare, "you're the one who will killed. Unless I do something about it!"

InuYasha wanted to say "no" to her, but the vine around his throat was too strong that he couldn't say a word, and felt he would pass out any second.

Kagome quickly sat Shippo down, and pulled out her bow and arrow, aiming at the monsters. "Let him go. Now!" She would shoot right away, afraid to hit him; she decided to give them a chance.

"No," one of the monsters replied, "we've been told to kill t his half-demon!"

"Kagome!" Shippo said worriedly as he watched InuYasha suffocate, and possibly be dying every second.

"Let him go!"

The plants wouldn't dare to listen, and the third one squeezed InuYasha's waist so tightly that a cup amount of blood fell out of his mouth.

That's when Kagome's heat stopped, and immediately shot her arrow, destroying the third plant into dust. After that, she shot two more arrows, not giving the other demons a chance to react.

Once InuYasha fell to the ground, Kagome and Shippo quickly headed toward him. "InuYasha!"

The boy was able to react as he slowly lifted himself on to his knees, and coughed a couple drips of blood.

"InuYasha!"

"Are you ok?" Shippo nervously asked.

The half-demon looked at them and clenched his shaking fists angrily. "What…are you doing here," he said.

Kagome suddenly grew angry and glared at him. "What do you mean 'what am I doing here'? Saving you're butt, that's what."

"I told you I wanted to do this on my own."

"And I told you 'no'! And promised! How could you!"

The boy glared at the ground. "I couldn't let you get hurt." He looked back at the girl. "Now get out of here. Both of you!"

"No way!" Shippo exclaimed.

"We just saved you're life!" Kagome cried. "And you can't even thank us? You were almost killed!"

InuYasha was finally on his feet, healed almost completely. Although it was hard to ignore the fact that he probably broke some bones, and grunted.

"InuYasha." Kagome tried to help him, but he continued.

"I don't care! I'll risk my life before I let you guys get killed!"

"This is about Kikyo, isn't it!"

It was finally silent, and InuYasha was speechless. Not even Shippo could speak because it was so awkward. The half-demon tried to say something w hen he smelled a familiar stench, and looked behind him to see gas.

The boy gasped. "Look out!" He quickly took hold of Kagome and Shippo and jumped on to a tree. "You butt out."

"InuYasha!"

InuYasha jumped down to the ground and faced them. "I'm doing this alone!"

"No!"

"I…have seen…enough!" another voice let out.

InuYasha curiously turned around, and finally saw IraKouba himself walking out from behind the trees ahead.


	14. Chapter 14

**Ok guys, just to let you know, this is the second to the last chapter of the story. This was a really hard one because I'm always having a hard time describing action. I like action, I'm just not good at explaining it in a story. I hope its good, though. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 14

InuYasha stared at the plant lord with a glare. "IraKouba," he said angrily as Kagome and Shippo watched closely from up in the tree. "He's here," Shippo said.

"It's IraKouba," Kagome whispered anxiously that she had finally seen him for herself.

"IraKouba," InuYasha continued, "I finally found you."

"It took you longer than I expected," said IraKouba, "what was holding you back?"

"What was holding me back? What about you? You're a coward for hiding here. You could have fought me yourself, and instead you sent your stupid weed friends."

IraKouba stepped closer and smiled. "You're mouth is a big one, but you're strength is far from great. You won't be able to defeat me, if that's what you're thinking. I'll make sure of that."

Kagome watched and listened to every word they had said. InuYasha had gotten stronger and he never backed down from a fight. But if the plant minions were too strong for him, so was IraKouba, and Kagome knew for sure that he couldn't fight him alone. He needed help.

"You're under estimating me," InuYasha said, "and you picked the wrong guy to deal with." The boy was about to attack when IraKouba interrupted.

"Oh no," he said, "I believe I picked the right one. You're the one I've wanted to kill. And I shall." The demon started to move his vine slowly toward InuYasha as he spoke, while Kagome and Shippo got nervous. "You act like a child, feeling confident that you will defeat me. Yet you've proved so much that you're nothing but a weak half-demon."

"Shut up!" InuYasha said as he hit the vine out of the way and attacked IraKouba. The demon moved before he could be touched, and InuYasha fell to the ground, and struggled to get up.

"Ha," IraKouba said as he looked down at the boy. "I'm two times faster than you, and stronger than you. You're nothing compared to me."

"We'll see about that!" The boy attacked once more, but missed again and fell face flat to the ground.

"If that's' all you got," said IraKouba," then this is going to be boring."

"What's wrong wit him?" Shippo asked, "He's usually much better than this."

"It's his bones," Kagome decided, "they got crushed from the other demons, and now he can barely move." Kagome didn't know what to do except worry. InuYasha didn't want her to get involved, but she felt like she would any second.

InuYasha looked ahead to see that his Tetsiaga was still lying on the ground; so he quickly got up and ran toward it as IraKouba chased after him. The boy was lucky enough to grab the sword and jump out of the way before the plant lord could touch him.

InuYasha held up his sword in front of him and hit IraKouba's attacking vine out of the way. IraKouba attacked again, this time grabbing a hold of the Tetsiaga.

The half-demon tried to pull away until the sword was released and he fell backward a little, but caught himself before he could fall to the ground. IraKouba quickly attacked again, allowing his thorny vine to cut InuYasha across the chest.

Kagome watched the fight in terror. So far InuYasha wasn't doing well, yet he kept going. She knew that's the way he was, although it sometimes got him into trouble. The girl watched InuYasha attack and miss again, and after IraKouba shot his poisoned gas out, the half-demon lost focus and felt his word being hit out of his own hands.

Kagome held Shippo close to her as she and him watched the fight, that would soon last, go on. InuYasha was in on position to fight right now, yet he kept doing so without succeeding.

The boy finally stood in front of his enemy and glared while trying to catch his own breath. _He's fast, but…_he looked up at the worried Kagome and Shippo, and knew that there was no reason to back down. _But I won't give up!_

"Come on, InuYasha, "IraKouba said, "show me what you got. Give all your strength to kill me."

Kagome saw the smile on IraKouba's face, knowing that he felt confident and wouldn't loose. Either he was going to dodge the boy's attack, or fight back. Seeing that he was just standing there while InuYasha started for him, Kagome knew he wasn't going to run. In fact, it looked like to her that he would attack first. Her heart started to pound. InuYasha didn't seem to think about what he was doing, and if he didn't stop, he was going to get hurt.

Kagome didn't want that. She didn't want to see it happen again.

InuYasha was now ten feet from the plant demon, as he rose up his hand, ready to slice the demon with his claws. "You're dead!"

IraKouba smiled and released his vine.

"SIT!"

InuYasha fell to the ground before IraKouba's weapon could go right through the boy's gut.

"Kagome!" Shippo exclaimed as the girl quickly climbed out of the tree. "Stop it!" she cried.

IraKouba was shocked that he missed the half-demon, and turned to look at the girl.

"Kagome!" InuYasha exclaimed as he raised his head up. "I told you to stay out of it!"

The girl put her hands on her hips. "Well I'm not!"

IraKouba was speechless when he saw Kagome's face up close. _That girl. She looks a lot like…_

"IraKouba, enough with this!"

He kept his eyes on her, not knowing what to say. "Kikyo?"

"It's Kagome! I'm Kagome, not Kikyo!"

IraKouba wasn't sure what to think. She looked like Kikyo, but if she wasn't, he didn't know what to decide. He took a step toward Kagome and looked at her curiously. "What are you?"

"IraKouba, leave her out of this!" InuYasha cried as he stood up. "She's a girl, and nothing for you to be concerned about."

The plant lord wasn't so sure if that was true. If Kagome was identical to Kikyo, and if she had some sort of power on InuYasha, then there was something to be concerned about.

Shippo still sat in the tree and watched worriedly. _Kagome, what are you doing to do?_

"Kagome, get out of here!" InuYasha exclaimed.

"IraKouba," Kagome started, ignoring the half-demon, "why are you doing this? Why do you have to kill InuYasha? Just because you're not getting what you want? Why?"

IraKouba then knew for sure that there was something important about this girl, since it seemed she knew what he was up to.

"IraKouba, leave her out of this!" InuYasha cried again.

"Why?" the demon said to Kagome. "I'll tell you why. It was two weeks ago when I decided to come visit your land and let my minions take out what they wanted. I let them destroy everything, including the people of any village we came to. As I watched them kill continuously, I finally saw her. I saw the priestess attack. She attacked with her spiritual arrow to protect the villagers.

"I was surprised to see her destroy my minions. Sometime after the battle, I finally encountered this priestess. She started to interrogate me, knowing that it was I behind everything. She had even threatened me, and told me to leave right away. I wasn't so sure why she was giving me a chance to live. Maybe it was because she saw something in me that nobody else did. Maybe deep down inside me I was good.

"I have never seen anything like her either. I'd never had feelings like that toward a human, so I asked her for her name. 'Kikyo,' she answered. So I said to her 'I'm very interested to see what you are really like toward others. I'll stop it all if you just let me stay for a while. Let me see how your life is. Perhaps you could bring the good out of me.' I think she was shocked to hear that come from a demon, but she decided to give me a change.

"Everyone was afraid of me, except for Kikyo. She was a very brave a strong woman. I stayed near her village for a couple of days, when I realized that I hated the place I was in at the time. I hated the village, the people, everything about it. Everything but her. So soon I decided to talk to her alone, and invite her to join my plant minions and I, and live with me. 'I don't think I'll love anyone else,' I said. 'Please leave this place and come with me on my land. Together we can be one.'

"'I'm flattered for the offer,' she said, 'but I'll have to pass. It's not my destiny to join you, and it's not my destiny to be with you.' It hurt me so much. And some time after I left her presence, I started to hear rumors about her and this half-demon falling in love. This half-demon named InuYasha. I was so angry and even faced Kikyo one last time, and brought up the subject. I asked her so many times, but she refused to answer. 'I'm the only one who should be able to have you,' I said.

"And that's the last time I saw her. So I decided to kill InuYasha to show that priestess that he didn't deserve her. And then maybe next time she should be able to think before rejecting me."

"How dare you treat Kikyo like that," InuYasha said angrily. "You don't deserve to have anyone!"

"I deserve much more than you could ever want. I also heard that you tried to kill Kikyo for some reason."

"That's a lie!" Kagome exclaimed. "InuYasha would never hurt Kikyo! He'd never hurt any human!"

"Kagome…" InuYasha let out. Even though he was glad to have somebody on his side, he wanted the girl to stop now before she got in trouble.

"Even if he ever was violent toward Kikyo," IraKobua said as he looked at the boy, "he always did have the love and passion for her, and would do anything to protect Kikyo. But now," he turned his head back to Kagome, "he doesn't want you to get hurt. He's risked his life for you. I can see it just by the way he's looking at you right now."

Shippo noticed it, too. He could see the worry and passion in the half-demon's eyes to Kagome, even sitting far up in a tree.

"So in that case," IraKoba continued, "since I despise InuYasha, you should die right now!"

Kagome screamed and ran out of the way before the vine could hit her

"Kagome!" InuYasha exclaimed and started for IraKouba. "Leave her alone!"

IraKouba jumped out of the way.

"It's _me_ you want!" The boy suddenly felt himself being pushed to the ground on his back.

"It _is_ you I want," the plant demon said as he stepped on top of the boy. "And now I know that girl is your weakness.

Before InuYasha could react, an arrow came their way and missed IraKouba by an inch.

The demon looked to see Kagome with a bow and arrow pointing at him. "There will be no second chances for you, IraaKouba!" she said, shooting the next arrow. Kagome gasped when she saw IraKouba catch the arrow and crush it in his hand. _No way!_

InuYasha finally kicked IraKouba off of him, and jumped back on his feet in front of Kagome. "Kagome, get out of here! I told you, he's too strong for you!"

"Shouten!" IraKouba called. Everyone else, including Shippo, grew curious and saw an unfamiliar figure step up.

His skin was green; he had two red eyes, two big feet, two vine-like arms, and a row of large red pedals on his head. And on top of all that, he was only six inches taller than Shippo was.

"Yes master," he said nervously to IraKouba, who pointed to Kagome while looking at his little minion. "Kill her."

Shippo gasped and InuYasha looked at the plant curiously. _He doesn't look like he can do much. Yet, looks are deceiving._

"Umm..master," Shouten started.

"Shouten, kill her," the plant lord said again.

"Yes master." He stepped up to Kagome, who looked at him bravely.

"Oh no you don't!" InuYasha said before chasing after the demon, when IraKouba jumped in front of him and grabbed his neck with one hand and pinned him against a tree trunk.

Before Shouten could do anything, Kagome hit him on the head with her bow and glared. "You're not so tough!"

Shouten growled, and shot out a smaller, yet identical vine to IraKouba's, and hit the girl's leg with the thorns.

Kagome gasped in pain as InuYasha smelled her blood and called out her name and broke out of IraKouba's grasp. He quickly ran, and picked up his sword, but before he could attack Shouten, IraKouba blocked him by fighting off his sword.

That's when Shippo decided to take action and jump out of the tree and step between Kagome and the demon. "Don't worry, Kagome, I'll protect you. Fox fire!" The boy shot his power toward Shouten, but made no progress as the evil demon shot his vine straight through and knocked Shippo out of the way.

"Shippo!" Kagome cried.

InuYasha continued to fight off IraKouba's vine, when he was finally pushed backwards and hit another tree. When his head hit the trunk, he dozed off as IraKouba chuckled.

Kagome saw InuYasha and cried out his name when a bunch of gas shot out from Shouten and in her face. It was too quick for her to think, and when she breathed in the poison, she started to cough violently as Shippo screamed her name.

"Kagome!" InuYasha exclaimed, and ignoring IraKouba, quickly headed for Kagome, as Shouten escaped under ground. He went on his knees and caught Kagome, who struggled to breathe, and looked into her eyes. "Kagome! Are you all right? Kagome!"

"Inu…I trie…please…he was…I…" Kagome gagged out as she coughed between each word.

Shippo ran toward the two, and kept shouting Kagome's name, asking her if she was ok. The girl coughed some more and gasped continuously as she heard InuYasha talk to her.

"Kagome, please, stay strong! Stay with me!"

"Inu..I…feel…I…can't…" She tried to speak some more, but her voice started to fade away; and soon her head dropped backwards.

"K…Kagome. Kagome! Kagome!"

She didn't respond, and Shippo kept asking her to wake up. InuYasha, though, quit talking to her, and heard IraKouba laughing from behind him.

The boy clenched his teeth, and shook angrily before lying Kagome on the ground. His heart was racing, and felt his blood rush to his face, when he growled. InuYasha slowly stood up as Shippo kept trying to get through to Kagome.

"I knew you'd be this weak," IraKouba said to the boy, "that's how all humans are, including half-demons like you."

InuYasha slowly turned around, and screamed out a curse word before running toward the plant lord angrily, jumped over him, and landed behind.

IraKouba was shocked to see how fast the boy was, and once he turned around to him, InuYasha had his Tetsiaga in his arms, and fiercely waved it toward him. IraKouba tried to react, but it was too late when the blade went through his side and cut him in half.

The evil demon saw everything good he once faced, specifically Kikyo before dying, and fell to the ground. Once his body turned into dust, InuYasha put his sword away as he looked down depressed, and headed back toward Kagome.

Shippo stopped talking to Kagome, who wasn't moving, when InuYasha came over and sat in front of her. "Her eyes are closed, and she won't say anything," Shippo said worriedly.

InuYasha looked down at the girl and felt his stomach tingle. "Kagome…?"

She didn't react, and the boy was silent as he put his hand on her chest. He didn't feel anything. Not a heartbeat, and not a breath.

"InuYasha, is Kagome gonna be ok?" Shippo softly asked.

The half-demon remained quiet as he stared into space. He was too afraid to answer the child, and even too afraid to tell himself the truth.

"InuYasha, is she gonna be ok?"

He still remained silent, and felt like he would die if Shippo asked again.

"InuYasha, is Kagome ok?"

InuYasha's whole body started to shake before Shippo spoke again.

"InuYasha?"

He was still quiet, and when Shippo asked again, the tone in his voice was scared and anxious. "InuYasha, is Kagome gonna be OK?"

This time InuYasha closed his eyes tightly as he clenched his teeth and grunted.

That was a clear enough answer for Shippo; and the fox child gasped before falling on his bottom and began to sob loudly.

InuYasha felt like everything worth living for was gone. He felt angry, said, useless, and could barely even move. He couldn't even hear Miroku and Sango's voices from up ahead. The only thing he could hear was Shippo's crying.

Miroku and Sango finally caught up to them, and called out their names, when they saw Shippo crying and Kagome lying still on the ground.

They both felt anxious when they saw the look on InuYasha's face. The look of loss. "InuYasha?" Miroku asked.

The half-demon finally heard them, and slowly turned his head while Shippo continued to cry.

"InuYasha," Sango started nervously, "what happened?"

**Ok I hope you liked it! Just to let you know, I listened to the song Pai's theme from the Whale Rider soundtrack when I imagined the part when Shippo kept asking InuYasha if Kagome was ok. It's a very sad score. Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Last chapter guys! I know, Im disappointed, but relieved at the same time. This took a long time! Anyways, I felt sad writing this chapter. I hope it turns out good. Please review when you have read it! Ok, here's the final chapter!**

Chapter 15

"Are ye sure he is gone for good?" Kaede, who was sitting in front of her hut with Miroku and Sango, asked.

"Yes," Miroku answered softly, "InuYasha said he killed him."

"I see."

"Yes," Sango started, "but InuYasha was hurt at the time. The only reason he got all his strength back, was because," she fought back the tears and made no eye contact as Miroku looked down sadly.

"Kagome," Kaede sadly answered, and looked to the ground as well. A couple hours ago, the news about Kagome was the first thing she head, and it was heartbreak for everyone. "And…where is InuYasha now?"

"He's up at the big hill," Miroku answered. "He…still won't leave her sight." There was a long silence as the three thought about the whole situation. They had known Kagome for almost a year now, and they could each remember when they had first met her. She was a very nice person, and was always optimistic. It was rare for her to be unhappy. She was strong, and was always there for everyone when they needed her.

Kaede finally broke the silence as she stood. "I'm gonna go collect stuff for dinner," she said, although felt like nobody would feel up to eating anything.

The monk and demon slayer didn't respond, but let the old priestess go. Sango pet Kirala, who was sitting in her lap and sadly meowed.

InuYasha sat on the hilltop with Kagome's body on his lap as he looked down at her sadly. He still felt helpless more than ever, and didn't even feel he could fight again. It was Kagome that kept him going, and now that she was gone, he felt stuck.

_Kagome…please forgive me. This is all my fault. It's all my fault!_ The boy shut his eyes tightly and gently held the girl's head up on his arm. He looked down at her and started to shake his whole body. InuYasha didn't now what to do now, except remain still.

"InuYasha sure is taking a long time," Sango said to Miroku, who sat by her side.

"Can you blame him?" Miroku said with his eyes closed. "There's nothing much he can do but have time for himself."

"Kagome is so important to him."

"She was important to all of us. But I think she was to him more than anyone." Miroku's heart started pounding, feeling sad about Kagome.

Sango felt tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at the ground. "I can't believe…she's gone." The demon slayer put her hands up to her mouth when she felt the tears falling. "Oh Miroku."

Miroku finally turned to her, and when he saw that she was crying, he felt he couldn't do anything but comfort the girl. He put his arm around Sango and pulled her against his shoulder.

"I feel the same way," Sango said.

"Hm?"

"I…I love you, too."

Miroku suddenly remembered he confessed his love to Sango the day before, and she had never responded until now. The monk smiled and pulled her closer, making sure she felt as calm as possible. "I'm glad."

Shippo sadly walked through the village, still couldn't believe he would never see Kagome again. He would never see that worming smile and happy voice. He would never see her kind heart again, either. _Kagome…it will never be the same again._

"Hey Shippo!"

The fox demon turned to see four village kids running over to him.

"Remember that truth or dare game you showed us?"

He stared at them, but didn't say a word, for he was in no position to have a conversation, and the topic they started made him feel worst.

"We were gonna play it," one child said, not realizing how depressed Shippo was. "Would you like to join us?"

Shippo remembered Kagome told him how to play that game. He had only played it once with her, not being able to finish it, and showed some of the villagers how to play, since he had so much fun with it.

The thought of that game and Kagome made his heart sink, and soon felt t he tears coming. The boy quickly shut his eyes and turned around so they wouldn't see, especially since most of the kids there were girls, and he didn't want to look like a wimp in front of t hem. "NO," he struggled to let out.

"No?"

"No, I gotta go." He immediately started running away on his hands and feet, refusing to look back. _No. I wish..I could just stop crying. If only…it was easy to forget about her._

InuYasha finally came back to Kaede's hut at sunset, after hiding Kagome's body in a special spot where he was sure nobody, not even a demon could find her.

When Miroku saw the half-demon, he stood up and stepped up to him. "InuYasha."

InuYasha stopped walking, and waited for the monk to continue.

"I know this is hard for you. It's hard for all of us. But since you're the only one who can pass the well, I suggest that you tell Kagome's family what happened. They can't last forever wondering where she is."

The half-demon sadly looked to the ground, but understood what he had to do, even though he wasn't so sure when he would do it. "Kay," he said as he nodded, and started to head over to his favorite tree, when Sango stopped him.

"InuYasha," she said, "I don't mean to make you upset, but what are you going to do with Kagome's body? We can't just leave her lying around."

The boy turned around and looked at Sango, not so sure how he was going to answer her. He was silent for a few seconds. It was really painful for him to even think about Kagome, but he knew it was important that they did something about her before they went on with their lives, even though they felt it was impossible to.

When he turned back, Miroku and Sango staring at him, he finally answered. "Sometime tomorrow, we'll go take her to the forest…and burry her…next to the sacred tree." The sacred tree was the place where he and Kagome first met, and it was important to him that she was always where he first saw her.

The monk and demon slayer both nodded, and even though they were upset, they thought it was the perfect place to keep her. They would have to have a little ceremony for her, too.

"InuYasha," Miroku started, "Shippo is really upset right now and could use some company. Something happened in the village today that bothered him."

"Maybe you should go talk to him, InuYasha," said Sango, "since both of you have been depressed today." Even though Miroku and Sango were upset, too, they knew there was something about both InuYasha and Shippo's relationship with Kagome that was special.

The half-demon nodded. "Where is he?"

"He's in the hut," Miroku replied, "he's been in there for half an hour now."

When InuYasha entered the hut, he found Shippo in the corner with his back facing him. The half-demon walked over to the child, sat down to his level, and sighed. "Shippo."

Shippo turned around, and InuYasha could see so much emotion in the child's eyes, there was no way he would avoid it. "Shippo, are you alright?"

"InuYasha." The fox child sniffed before speaking. "I'm fine. It's just…"

"What happened?"

"Well…I walked in the village. And when I was there, some of the other children saw me and walked up to me. Then…they asked me if I wanted to play Truth or Dare." His eyes were full of tears now, but he continued. "Well I remembered that Kagome showed us how to play that game, and we never finished it. I said no because I didn't want to play unless Kagome played with me. But I can't ever…because…She's gone!" Once again, Shippo started to sob so loud that probably the whole world could hear him.

InuYasha hated to see others cry, especially the ones he really cared about. "Oh Shippo," he said softly as the child continued crying. "I know. It upsets me, too."

Shippo finally stopped, and looked up at the half-demon, whose eyes were full of sadness. It wasn't an everyday thing for InuYasha to be nice to him or express his feelings, and today it worried him to see the half-demon like this.

"Be strong, Shippo. You need to stop crying and be strong. It's the only thing you can do." After that, InuYasha left, leaving the child in a hard position.

In the forest, Kikyo walked continuously, thinking of everything that had happened. She knew IraKouba was dead, because she heard some of the villagers talking about it. InuYasha had never confronted her since the night she told him the truth. It understood, since he would be tired after a huge battle.

The priestess suddenly heard a sound in the bushes, and gasped. "Who goes?"

A small object slowly stepped out to show himself. It was Shouten, and Kikyo recognized him to be IraKouba's most trusted minion. She immediately pulled out her bow and arrow, and pointed toward the plant demon. "It's you," she said angrily."

"Yes, I know IraKouba. And IraKouba knew you."

"I know IraKouba is dead. I won't give you a chance to do what he had wanted."

Shouten fearfully put up his hands in front of him. No, no. I never did like what IraKouba had us do."

Kikyo, again, had not seen many demons some what have a heart, but was curious. "Then you did you do it. I saw you poison everyone."

"Because I didn't want to disappoint him. Unlike the other plant minions, I never actually was born apart of him, but he raised me like his own. But I regret everything I have done."

Kikyo kept glaring, and still had her bow and arrow up, ready to shoot. "Lots of people died because of you."

"Yes, I know. But…there's something I need to show you. Something important."

"I won't fall in to any of your traps."

"This isn't a trap. Please, just believe me, and follow me."

Deciding to give the plant a chance, Kikyo put her bow and arrow down, and followed Shouten through the forest.

Kagome happily ran through the beautiful field where there were many flowers. She laughed as she picked up a flower and gave it a sniff. "It's beautiful." The girl leaned down to pick up another flower, and once she touched it, a big vine popped up and grabbed her wrist.

Kagome gasped and started to panic as she tried to pull away. But the vine was too strong for her, and it pulled the girl down, breaking through the ground. She screamed as she fell down in a dark whole.

Shippo woke up with a soft gasp, and felt his heart pounding. He gasped continuously as he looked around to see he was the only one in the hut. What made him upset, though, was that Kagome wasn't there.

The boy realized it was daylight, so he stood and headed out the hut.

"He didn't go to the cave where he hid her," Shippo heard Miroku say, "he headed into a different direction."

"InuYasha cared about Kagome more than all of us," said Sango, "he seemed really upset when he left."

"Lets hope that he doesn't do anything unhealthy to himself. It looked like he would do so."

Shippo's heart sunk and began to worry as he heard the monk and demon slayer's conversation. The look on InuYasha's face looked terrible the last time Shippo saw him, and it worried him to know he was out doing who knows what.

The boy quickly ran off without anyone realizing it, and didn't stop or look back. _Unhealthy? What does that mean? Does he mean…InuYasha will kill himself?_ Shippo would never be that kind of person to do something like that, but if there was a chance InuYasha would, he had to stop him. _No! I can't let that happen!_

InuYasha, shaking his body in frustration, stood in front of a river staring ahead. Knowing that Kagome was gone for good made him feel like all was lost. And knowing that he wasn't quick enough to stop her, made him feel worst. _I don't know what to do._

"InuYasha!"

"Huh?" The half-demon turned around and saw Shippo running his way. The child stopped to catch his breath when he was ten feet away. _What's Shippo doing here?_

Shippo's whole body started to shake with his head down as he spoke. "InuYasha. Why are you…acting this way? You told me…I had to be strong. So…you need to be strong, too." He finally looked up when he sad those last few words, and there were tears in his eyes.

InuYasha didn't know what to say right now, so he decided to listen. It wouldn't be fair if he just ran away.

The fox demon walked a few feet forward, and continued talking. "I know you're upset. We all are. But it doesn't mean you have to…kill yourself!"

InuYasha was shocked to hear those words come out of the kid's mouth. He couldn't even believe the child would even think of it. _I wasn't planning on killing myself. But I wanted to do something big. Not all my anger is out yet._

Before InuYasha could say something, Shippo continued to talk as he came forward till he was only a foot away from him. "It's terrible that…Kagome is gone. It's the worst thing that has ever happened. But…it doesn't mean you should give up on life. What about the rest of us? What about me? Who's going to protect me when I'm in danger?"

The child finally jumped on to InuYasha's shoulder and embraced him. "I need you!" Please…please don't leave!"

The half-demon was in shock. He was terribly depressed about Kagome, but he never thought about how Shippo would feel at the time. He felt a little guilty for that and closed his eyes. "Oh Shippo, I'm not going. And I'll still protect you. At least until you get big enough to protect yourself. Ok?"

Shippo looked up at him, full of tears and smiled with a nod. M..hm." He suddenly felt a lot better. Even though he lost Kagome, he was still glad he had InuYasha.

Later that day as the wind blew peacefully; InuYasha sat alone on top his favorite hill as he looked out to the world. The breeze felt great in his face as his hair blew back in the wind, but his heart still felt broken._ I know I can't give up, and it's my destiny to move on. But…I feel so lost without you, Kagome._

The boy sighed as he stared at the field, seeing nothing but flowers everywhere. No butterflies. He felt it was telling him that things would never be the same again.

That's when the half-demon suddenly smelled something good. It smelled fresh and familiar. He immediately stood up curiously and looked forward. "That's Kagome's scent." He started to run down the hill and through the field anxiously as the scent became stronger. _It can't be! But…it's fresh!_

After running for a few minutes, the boy stopped when he realized that no matter how far he went, he wouldn't find Kagome anywhere. "No, I must be imagining it." It was possible for his mind to play tricks on him when he lost someone he deeply cared about. He disappointedly turned around.

But when InuYasha took only a few steps forward, he heard her voice, and it sounded real and close.

"InuYasha."

The half-demon slowly looked over his s shoulder and turned completely around. There, Kagome stood a bout 50 feet away, smiling at him. Her hair and skirt blew in the wind, and she looked completely healthy and beautiful.

InuYasha couldn't believe it. He tried to tell himself that it was only an image, but smelling her, hearing her, and see her all together told him it was real.

"InuYasha."

"Kagome. Kagome!" Out of his mind, the boy ran forward toward the girl, who was running to him, also. "Kagome!"

"InuYasha!"

The two ignored everything else around t hem, and when they finally met, they were in each other's arms. Kagome felt so warm to InuYasha, and she smelled just like she always had. She was alive, and the boy felt he would never let go of her again.

When they finally looked at each other, Kagome saw tears in the half-demon's eyes, and briefly smiled.

"Kagome…I thought…"

"Oh InuYasha…it's ok now."

Before they both knew it, the two leaned in and let their lips touch each other. They felt relieved, happy, and strong. It was a feeling that would never be over powered by any other emotion.

That's when all the butterflies that were once there and gone, decided to come back, and fly over the two. InuYasha and Kagome finally broke the kiss and looked up at the beautiful insects. It was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

Kagome smiled and InuYasha did also, as they watched the insects perch onto the flowers. "InuYasha, I'm so glad things are ok again." The girl decided to give him another hug, before InuYasha heard three other familiar voices.

After Miroku, Sango with Kirala on her shoulder, and Shippo saw that InuYasha was not alone; they immediately ran down the hill. "It's Kagome!" Shippo cried.

"Kagome!" the monk and demon slayer cried as well. They couldn't believe what they were seeing, but it made them each feel happy again.

Shippo was the first one to jump into the girl's arms and embrace her. Kagome rocked him back in forth as she and him started to cry together. "Kagome…I can't believe it's you," said Shippo.

"It's a miracle," Sango said as received a hug from Kagome, who hugged Miroku afterwards.

Kagome then looked, and saw Kikyo up head, watching her and InuYasha, who finally noticed the priestess as well. Kagome smiled at her, telling her thank you, and after she watched the priestess nod and turn around to walk off, InuYasha and Kagome smiled at each other. Then they gave another kiss as the others watched happily.

Shippo couldn't believe what he was seeing, although he knew it would happen some day, and smiled. _InuYasha, I dare you to kiss Kagome. Kiss Kagome like you love her._

Everyone felt so happy and refreshed now that Kagome was here. And even though they knew so much would happen in the future, they didn't care, as long as they were all together.

"Kagome," InuYasha started, I promise, form now on, I won't let anything happen to you. I'll always protect you."

Kagome smiled and gave the boy another hug. "I know you will, InuYasha," she said, "you always do."

THE END 


End file.
